Traders expect rise in staple prices amid back-to-back fuel cost hike in a week

Guwahati: Traders in the city fear that prices of essential commodities, including rice grains and pulses, may rise soon amid increase in petrol and diesel prices twice in one week.

Petrol and diesel prices increased first on May 15 and again on Tuesday. On May 15, petrol price crossed Rs 100 mark, reaching Rs 101.21 per litre after a Rs 3 increase. Diesel prices rose to Rs 92.5 per litre, up by Rs 3.08 on May 15 in Kamrup (Metro) district. Following subsequent hikes, petrol now costs Rs 102.11 per litre after an increase of 90 paise on Tuesday, while diesel price stands at Rs 93.44 per litre after a 94 paise increase.

Rakesh Yadav, the owner of the Rakesh Store and a wholesale trader at the city’s Bamunimaidam, said prices of essential commodities, including the rice, pulses, sugar, mustard oil, refined oil, remain unchanged.

“As of now, there is no increase in the price of these products. However, the traders fear a surge in the prices of the essential commodities very soon. There is every possibility of price hike as petrol and diesel prices have gone up twice in a week,” he said.

However, egg prices have already surged, with an increase of Rs 50 per carton, taking the price to Rs 1,300 now from Rs 1,250 a week ago. A carton contains seven trays, each with 30 eggs, making the price per tray Rs 185.

Dhanjit Talukdar, a retailer at Chandmari, said a tray of eggs is being sold at Rs 240 in the retail market. “A tray was sold at Rs 180-190 about one-two weeks ago. We procure from wholesalers and we have got to know from them that the hike in fuel prices is the reason behind the price hike in eggs,” he said.

Eggs are mostly procured from Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad and Punjab to meet local demand. Assam requires 1.53 crore eggs daily but produces only 17 lakh per day at its own farms.

Talukdar warned of potential increase of price of the essential commodities soon due to the recent fuel price hikes.