TIRUCHY: With commercial LPG prices already straining eateries, the latest rise in petrol and diesel prices may trigger another round of price hikes across restaurants, tea shops, and juice stalls in Tiruchy. While a few eateries have already revised rates, several others said they are planning to increase prices by nearly 10%, which could take the cumulative increase over the past two months to around 15%.
Guru Ranganathan, president of the Tiruchy District Hotel Owners’ Association, said smaller hotels are already struggling to absorb the losses. “Most eateries increased prices during the LPG price hike. Small hotels cannot bear the losses for long. Still, many have not passed on the full burden to customers yet. If fuel prices continue to rise, many eateries may increase prices again,” he said.
T Prabhu, owner of Arumugam Restaurant in Palakarai, said another revision may become unavoidable if fuel prices rise. “We first raised prices by around 10% due to LPG cylinder hike at the end of March. Now, transportation costs have increased due to diesel prices. The cost of raw materials has also gone up. If this continues, many eateries may have to revise prices again,” he said.
K Asokan, manager of a chain of restaurants in Tiruchy, said, “The prices of toor dal, bengal gram, cooking oil and vegetables like tomato and onion have increased. Transporting these items from wholesale markets has become more expensive,” he said.
Tea and coffee prices too have seen another round of revision in several outlets. Some premium restaurants have increased the price of tea from Rs 20 to Rs 28, while local tea stalls that earlier raised prices from Rs 12 to Rs 15 are considering another hike to Rs 17.
Rowuthar Shah, president of the Tiruchy Tea Shop Owners Association, said, “The commercial LPG cylinder price has increased from around Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,300. Now diesel prices have increased transportation costs too, but many tea shops are still trying to avoid passing on the burden to customers immediately.”
Juice shops too are considering a price revision. B Senthil Kumar, a juice shop owner in Thillai Nagar, said ,”Till two weeks ago, a 25-kg sack of oranges cost around Rs 2,400. Now it has increased to nearly Rs 2,700. Sweet lime prices have risen from Rs 1,700 to around Rs 2,000/sack,” he said, adding that wholesalers were citing higher transportation and fertiliser costs for the spike.
Diesel prices in TN have cumulatively increased by nearly Rs 7.50/litre since mid-May, with diesel now nearing Rs 100/litre. Hotel owners said the increase has sharply pushed up transportation and raw material costs, adding further pressure after the recent commercial LPG cylinder price hike.