Chennai hoteliers feel the pinch as mutton, chicken prices shoot up

CHENNAI: Mutton and chicken prices in the city have once again shot up after the end of

Purataasi

month. Retail traders in the city said they were running out of stock due to increasing demand. On Saturday the price of mutton rose to Rs 540 per kg, while chicken was selling at Rs 180 per kg. Traders said the prices will further increase in the coming days.

Traders in the city said that the supply of goats and sheep from Andhra Pradesh and areas of Salem, Erode,

Namakkal

and

Trichy

has come down in the last one month due to less production and very less grazing area for the animals. The city also gets its goats from Maharashtra and Karnataka. But with a huge demand in those states too, the inflow of goats and sheep to the city has dipped.

"Harassment at check-posts has also contributed to the price rise. On the outskirts between Red Hills and Pulianthope, there are 10 check points and traders have to pay at least Rs 500 at each of these points when they bring in the animals. This has also pushed up the prices as they have to dole out money to officials. The transportation costs too have gone up, thanks to GST, and that has been passed on to the consumers," said

Syed Abubacker

, a retail trader in Nungambakkam.

There are 1,500 mutton retail shops in the city and around 1,500 goats and sheep are slaughtered every day in the city.

The rise in prices of mutton and chicken has followed the rise in prices of vegetables due to low production and increase in demand. As regards to chicken, the city consumes 15 lakh kg of chicken every day supplied by 15 producers in the state, mainly from Namakkal in Salem.

With the rise in prices of both mutton and chicken, restaurants in the city are also planning to increase the prices of non-vegetarian dishes. "As it is with the introduction of GST there was a huge decrease in footfalls at restaurants and now with the increase in prices, we will have to pass on the hike to customers and some of us cannot do that as they are bachelors and regular customers," said B Kantharaj, a restaurant owner in Kilpauk.

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