Your nimbu paani is feeling the price squeeze in Delhi-NCR

NOIDA: The next time Mrs Sharma offers you a glass of plain water instead of the usual nimbu paani, blame it on the surging prices. For now, when life is giving lemons, it is also squeezing pockets.
With lemon prices touching Rs 300-400 a kilo in the retail markets of Noida and Ghaziabad, the humble summer drink is no less than elite now. People back from the scorching sun are being offered alternatives and many restaurants have quietly taken the lemonade off their daily menu.
You may also not find the half lemon topping a plate of green salad at the dhaba and the neighbourhood chaat stall owner may even scoff at you if asked for an extra squeeze of sourness.
In the retail markets of Delhi, a kilo of lemon sold for Rs 300-350. Wholesale prices, however, ranged between Rs 120 and Rs 150. The price of lower grade and smaller lemons was between Rs. 80 and 100.
Those selling nimbu paani on carts are among the worst sufferers. With soaring temperatures, the demand for the drink is at an all-time high. But so are the concerns of the people selling it.
At his cart near the Sector 16 metro station, Shambhu Kumar is squeezing only half a lemon in each glass. “A glass of nimbu paani costs only Rs 10 here. But a lemon nowadays is also selling for the same amount. If I have to squeeze an entire lemon into a glass, what money will I make in this business? I am cutting a lemon into two and using only half of it in each drink,” he said.
Santosh knows of some cheap alternatives, but he won’t use them. “There are chemicals that taste like lemon juice. But they may be harmful and I could land in trouble,” he told TOI. “Replacing the lemon with any other alternative is not an option for us.” So, is he planning to increase the price? “If I do that, the number of customers will go down. My only hope is that the price of lemon will come down soon,” he said.
Awdhesh Kumar had switched to selling nimbu paani when the mercury began to soar a few weeks ago. “I sold fruit chaat earlier. A kilo of lemon is now costing me Rs 300-400 in the local market and Rs 250 in the mandi. I sell a large glass of lemonade for Rs 20. I have been urging people to buy the large glass so that I earn some profit,” he said.
In dhabas and roadside eateries, the lemon has vanished off the plates.
Mohit Kumar, who runs an eatery in Sector 22, said, “At this rate, it is not possible to serve lemon with a plate of salad. Though we keep a few lemons here, we only serve it to those customers who insist on it.”
At the Noida wholesale mandi, lemons sold at Rs 200-220 a kg on Friday. Santosh Kumar, the secretary of the Noida Mandi Samiti, blamed the hike on the lack of supply. “We get lemons transported from Delhi and other districts. The price of lemon is relatively low in the wholesale market. But the retailers are selling them according to the quality of the fruit and the area where they are serving. We are planning to conduct an enforcement drive and take action against vendors found overcharging,” he added.