Cost of veggies and fruits goes up; burden on common man in Bengaluru
BENGALURU: Prices of vegetables and fruits have gone up in Bengaluru forcing the consumers to shell out more money when compared to May. The cost of essential vegetables like tomatoes, beans, onions, and potatoes has gone up with the cost of some of them almost going up by three times.
A kilo of tomato which used to be around Rs 15 has witnessed a three-fold jump in the cost and is now sold at over Rs 60 in the markets. The cost of beans too has gone up from Rs 45 last month to over Rs 80 in the markets and Rs 115 in government-run HOPCOMS.
It's not only tomatoes, the cost of onions, one of the crucial ingredients for many food items, has also witnessed a hike with a kilo sold for over Rs 30.
While the cost of potatoes was around Rs 24 per kilo last month it is now sold for nearly Rs 30 and cucumbers that were at Rs 30 last month are now Rs 40 per kilo. Alphonso mangoes priced at Rs 100 last week have been increased to Rs 145 now. Oranges in the market are Rs 120 per kilo and in HOPCOMS is Rs 137 per kilo. A kilo of apple in HOPCOMS was Rs 245 while in markets it was Rs 220. Mosambis (Sweet Lime) have gone up from Rs 90 to Rs 110 per kilo.
“Mangoes two days back were Rs 60 and now they are Rs 90” said a customer shopping in HOPCOMS.
On the other hand, the cost of bananas has down. Robusta bananas that were around Rs 50 in May have now come down to Rs 40. Similarly, Yelakki bananas which were Rs 80 have come down to Rs 72.
“Based on supply and demand, we change the prices of vegetables and fruits regularly,” said Jayaprakash N, Manager of Marketing and Procurement of Hopcoms, Lalbagh.
“As a student living in a PG, buying fruits is not an affordable choice for me. As someone who likes to eat fruits for breakfast, the high price is not appealing to me. The prices of fruits like mangoes and apples are extremely high and I cannot afford them on a daily basis” said a student staying in a Bangalore PG.
Price of Vegetables in markets:
May and June comparison
Tomato: Rs 15 to Rs 60
Onion: Rs 20 to Rs 30
Potato: Rs 24 to Rs 30
Beans: Rs 45 to Rs 85
Cucumber: Rs 30 to Rs 40
Fruits:
May and June comparison
Robust banana: Rs 50 to Rs 40
Alphonso mangoes: Rs 100 to Rs 145
Apples: Rs 180 to Rs 220
Mosambi: Rs 90 to Rs 110
Pineapple: Rs 50 to Rs 60