Kerala reeling under price hike of essential commodities

Being a consumer state, Kerala is reeling under steep hikes in the prices of essential commodities ranging from rice to vegetables. Prices of certain brands of rice almost doubled in the state.

While the Ukraine war is considered to be the triggering factor for the price hike of rice and items like soaps, crop loss due to untimely rains was considered to be the reason for the increase in prices of vegetables and other agricultural produce.

As part of the efforts to tide over the crisis, the Kerala government on Tuesday entered into an agreement with Andhra Pradesh for procuring rice and five other commodities.

Industry sources said that there has been a considerable decline in the supply of paddy and rice from states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu over the last few months. This led to an increase in prices by up to 80 per cent. About 65 per cent of rice required in Kerala is received from these states, while only 35 per cent is produced in Kerala.

Kerala Rice Mill Owners' Association general secretary Varkey Peter told DH that the wholesale price of certain brands of rice increased from around Rs 30 to Rs 55. Export of wheat from India following the Ukraine war had a cascading effect on the demand for rice and this triggered the price hike and shortage in supply from other states to Kerala. Even as the export was stopped, consumer states like Kerala continued to suffer the price hike.

Industry sources said that the price of other commodities like soaps and toothpaste also increased owing to the scarcity of raw materials like vegetable oil.

Kerala food and civil supplies minister G R Anil on Tuesday held talks with his Andhra counterpart K V Nageswara Rao in Thiruvananthapuram. Anil said that Andhra assured to supply rice and five other commodities to Kerala.

Opposition Congress alleged that the CPI(M) government failed to make timely steps to contain the price hike of essential commodities.