Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, June 3: Fruits prices in the city have skyrocketed ahead of Savitri Puja that falls Saturday. The price of banana has risen from Rs 50 a dozen a few days ago to Rs 60 a dozen at present.
Most fruits have become expensive, preventing people from buying them. The price of fruits goes up ahead of festivals.
Rajkishor Panda, a fruit vendor from Kochelei Haat near Rasulgarh, said: “Three days back the prices of all the seasonal fruits increased. Everything now costs between Rs 80 and Rs 120. There is a hike of Rs 10-20 in prices of fruits. The price of litchi was Rs 80 a few days back and now it costs Rs 130, grapes used to cost Rs 80 earlier and costs Rs 120 now, banana now costs about Rs 80, mango such as Dasheri and Sundari are selling for Rs 50 and Rs 80 a kilo depending on the quality. All fruits are expensive as they are brought to the city from other states.”
While mangoes are coming in from Andhra Pradesh, oranges are being brought from Nagpur, litchi from Bihar and West Bengal, grapes from Nashik and Bengaluru. Banana, pineapple and coconut grows abundantly in the state.
Price of a kilo of apple has shot up from Rs120 last week to around `Rs 170. Jack fruit was selling at `130 depending on the size and that of coconut and pineapple was Rs35 and Rs60 respectively. Even berries that are mostly used as offerings to deities during Savitri Puja were selling at Rs 30 per 100 grams.
Gayadhar Swain, the general secretary of Rajdhani Unit I vegetable market association said: “There is an increase of Rs10 to 20 on the prices of every type of fruit. The season and the requirement have caused the increase which will only last a few days. After Savitri Puja the rates will fall. This year many varieties of fruits are available in the market besides seasonal fruits.”
He added that the fruits were expensive as most fruits came from West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Considering the drastic rise in prices, people were forced to buy fruits in limited quantity. “Every year during Savitri Puja prices of fruits increase. There should be some regulation on the price and uniform prices everywhere. The vendors are also clever and increase prices when they see demand, leaving customers with no option but to pay the price,” Sulgana Mohanty, a housewife, said.
