Retail prices of staples like rice and atta, or wheat flour in India have fallen by 7% and 5%, respectively, in the last 10 days which bring some relief to consumers.
The ban on wheat exports helped to lower grain and atta prices, the arrival of the summer rice harvest, which is sown in January-February, has pulled non-basmati rice prices down.
Costs of wheat and atta
In western and eastern India, wheat at the mandi costs ₹23 a kg, while in northern India, the major producing hub, costs ₹22. In south India, it costs ₹26 per kg, as the transportation cost is included in the price. Meanwhile, the retail price of atta now costs ₹30 per kg in western and eastern India, ₹29 per kg in the north and ₹33 in southern India.
“Domestic demand is quite good. We do not see any significant drop in prices from this level,” said Ashish Khandewal, managing director of BL Agro, a Bareilly-based FMCG and edible oil company.
Aman rice arrived in the market
The price of Rice have also started falling as the Aman rice has started arriving in the market. West Bengal, the largest producer of the grain, has witnessed a drop of 7% in prices. Suraj Agarwal, chief executive of Tirupati Agri Trade, said “In the last ten days, prices have fallen by 7% as new rice has arrived. At the retail level, consumers were buying this rice at ₹41 per kg 10 days ago. But they are now buying at ₹38 per kg.”
Prices of rice have also softened in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh where summer rice has arrived. “Prices of rice are unlikely to go up this year as India has ample supply,” said Agarwal.
According to the government’s second advance estimates, rice production during 2021-22 is a record 127.93 mt.
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