Mumbai: The upward spiral in the price of pulses, a staple food item in Mumbai homes, is unlikely to be reversed in the near future. This dire prediction comes from traders who blame the scanty monsoon and the subsequent low supply for the situation. Prices of tur dal,moong dal and urad dal have increased by between 80% and 100% in the last year. “Top-quality tur dal, which was available at Rs 60 per kg in November 2008, now sells at Rs 116,’’ says retailer Ammubhai Ghelani. The price of moong dal, which was around Rs 70 last year, is now Rs 112 per kg while urad dal—Rs 72 per kg a year back—is now Rs 100 per kg. Traders complain that the government is sitting on a stock of over 70,000 tonnes of imported pluses, which includes 30,000 tonnes of tur dal, for the past few months. *
Dal eaters change buying pattern * Mumbai: The rising price of pulses is causing concern among both consumers and traders. ‘‘The government should immediately take steps like inviting tenders to process the dal. Once this is done, prices will stabilise or see a minor correction,’’ says agro-commodities analyst Dhimant Bhatt. The price rise has already forced consumers to change their consumption pattern. “Many shopkeepers have noticed that buyers have stopped making monthly purchases of pulses and are now picking them up only for their immediate need,’’ says Chandrakant Gala, president of the Bandra-Dahisar Grain and Provision Stores Association. Some consumers, on the other hand, have been buying much more than they require for fear that prices will not stabilise in the near future. Nilesh Vira of the Grain Rice and Oil-Seed Merchant Association points out: that the prices of dals rocketed soon after the elections. And another dire prediction, this one by the Golwala Merchants’ Association president Dipak Shah: the price of jaggery will rise. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
