Ahead of festive season, prices of essential commodities continue to spiral up

New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) Average retail prices of essential kitchen commodities, including wheat, atta, and rice have seen a significant rise during the last one year, and as the arrival of the festive season may see the trend continue.

As far as wheat is concerned, prices have gone up considerably in the last few months. As per traders at Delhi's wholesale markets, wheat prices have seen a spike crossing a record Rs 2,560 per quintal, due to slower supplies and robust demand.

According to traders, the heat wave led to lower production of wheat this year, impacting the domestic supplies of the agricultural produce.

Jai Prakash Jindal of Delhi's Lawrence Road Mandi said that the prices have been going up continuously. "Currently, wheat prices is at Rs 2560 per quintal. It is likely to rise further to the level of Rs 2,600 in the coming days during this festive season," he said.

The mandi prices were ruling at around Rs 2,150-Rs 2,175/quintal since the ban on wheat export was imposed on May 14 this year.

Jindal said that production was at lower side this year and the government did not stop export at the right time. "A lot of wheat was already exported by the time when the government put a ban on the export of wheat. It should have been done earlier," he said.

Government data also showed a similar trend in the average retail prices of wheat, atta, and rice. As per the data of the Consumer Affairs Department, the average retail price of atta was Rs 36.13 per kg. Similarly, the average retail price of rice on Friday was Rs 38.2 per kg and the average retail price of wheat was Rs 31 on Friday.

Traders said that while wheat prices have registered a rise of nearly 14-15 per cent, prices of atta have gone up by nearly 18-19 per cent. Similarly, retail prices have also gone up by nearly 7-8 per cent in Delhi retail markets.

The reasons for the increase in wheat prices include various factors like international demand-supply situation, rise in global commodity prices and conflict between major wheat exporting nations like Ukraine and Russia, etc, the traders said.