SHIVAMOGGA: Your favourite snacks like churumuri, girmit, masala mandakki, khara mandakki, oggarane mandakki, bhel puri and others made from puffed rice are likely to cost more as the price of puffed rice has gone up with immediate effect. Puffed rice is supplied across the state from Davanagere, which houses more than 800 Mandakki Bhattis (factories). These factories produce ‘Neer Mandakki’ variety of puffed rice which is widely consumed.Other districts like Shivamogga, Hassan Chikkamagaluru, Mysuru and other districts also house many Mandakki Bhattis.
These factories are a source of livelihood for thousands of labourers. However, the increased cost of raw material, electricity and labour have forced these factories to hike the price of puffed rice. Mohammed Akbar Ali, the president of Davanagere Mandakki Bhatti Utpadakara Kshemabhivruddhi Sangha (a welfare association of Mandakki Bhatti owners) told The New Indian Express that the association has decided to increase selling price of puffed rice from `260 to `300 per bag, which contains 105 litres of puffed rice.
Explaining the reason for the price hike, Ali said that a variety of paddy, which is suitable for making ‘Neer Mandakki’ has shot up from `1,100- ` 1,500 per bag to `1,900. “Besides, on an average, the monthly electricity bill was around Rs 1,500 per month until recently. Now, the average bill is around `2,500,” he said.
Raheem, a corporator who also owns Mandakki Bhattis in Davanagere said that due to the ban on plastic, the availability of plastic bags has decreased. “A gunny bag costs `70. When compared to plastic bags, which costs `15 each, gunny bags are costly. Labour costs have also increased. On an average, factories pay `600 to per labourer everyday. Considering all these costs, the price of puffed rice has increased,” he said.
Abeed, Bhadravathi based owner of a puffed rice factory, said that ‘Gatti Mandakki’ or Mysore Mandakki, which is another variety of puffed rice, is produced in the region. “The cost of paddy used for making this variety has increased to `2,200 per bag apart from electricity, labour and packaging cost. Hence, we had no way but to increase the cost from `330 to `450 per bag for the Gatti Mandakki variety,” he said. Shivanna, the owner of a puffed rice snack shop, said:”I have not decided to increase the price. But due to the rise in puffed rice prices there will be a decrease in my profit,” he said.