High prices of sugar, milk, ghee will ensure that even one box of mithai will pinch your wallet
High prices of sugar, milk, ghee will ensure that even one box of mithaiu00a0will pinch your wallet
This Diwali, gorging on your favourite sweets comes with a steep price tag.
Mithaiwallahs across the city have hiked the prices of their products, as the cost of the raw materials sugar, ghee and milk has risen by almost 20 per cent over last year.
Lower profits
Budhakaka Halwawala store at Mahim, famous for its Mahim halwa, has hiked prices by almost 30 per cent. Last year, they sold halwa for Rs 300 per kg, but this year, it's Rs 400 per kg.
Owner Ramchandra Joshi said, "Escalating costs have been a real problem. (See box). We can't hike our prices to match the costs, but we have raised them a little, so that our profits aren't entirely wiped out."
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Also, most of the wholesalers didn't even have the ingredients till 10 days ago. So I was unable to take orders, as I couldn't be sure I would be able to deliver," said Anand, who has hiked prices by 20 per cent.
No shortage
Pradeep Jain, general secretary of the Mumbai Sweetsellers Association, said that in the case of items like sugar, prices have doubled. "Thankfully, we haven't faced a shortage or else we would have been badly hit," said Jain.
Buyers' speak
Yogesh Mehta, a stockbroker from Irla, said, "We usually buy 30 kg of sweets for the staff in our family business.
But this year, we are offering them chocolates instead." Anuradha Kumar from Goregaon said, "Every year, we would buy around 2 kg ofu00a0 kaju barfi, but this year, we opted for the cheaper alternative of laddoo."
Rise in costs
|
Product |
2009 |
2008 |
|
Sugar |
Rs 32/kg |
Rs 17/kg |
|
Ghee |
Rs 250-275/kg |
Rs 190-215/kg |
|
Milk |
Rs 36-38/litre |
Rs 28-30/litre |
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