New Delhi: The vegetable price in Kolkata has surged causing difficulty for middle-class households. This happened due to insufficient rainfall in South Bengal. The price hike is affecting staple vegetables like eggplant, bitter gourd, cucumber, tomato, capsicum, beans, cauliflower, and cabbage.

Eggplant prices have shot up to between Rs 120 and Rs 150 per kilogram, while bitter gourd is now priced between Rs 100 and Rs 120 per kilogram. Green chilli which is essential in Bengali cooking costs between Rs 150 and Rs 200 per kilogram. Even cucumber, a staple in salads, is selling for between Rs 100 and Rs 120 per kilogram. (Also Read: Gautam Adani’s 2024 Salary Revealed – Less Than Some Of His Own Employees! Find Out Here)

Tomatoes are now priced between Rs 100 and Rs 120 per kilogram. Capsicum has become a luxury item costing around Rs 200 per kilogram. Cauliflower is selling for Rs 50 each, and cabbage for Rs 60 each, both at relatively higher prices. (Also Read: SBI Plans To Open 400 Branches In FY25: Chairman Khara)

A member of the task force constituted by the state government to keep the price of essential commodities in the retail markets of the state under control said that they have done a review of the situation and found that the lack of supply of vegetables as per demand is resulting in the current high price of the products.

“We interacted with the vegetable vendors at different retail markets in the city. They claimed that because of the insufficient rainfall, there had been a hit in the production at the vegetable hubs of the state. So the supply is much less compared to the demand. As claimed by the retailers, since they are also purchasing the same vegetables at higher prices from the wholesale markets, they are charging more to maintain their profit margin thus pushing up the price of vegetables in the retail markets,” the member of the task force said.

However, he added, the task force members are not ruling out the possibility of a section of the vegetable traders taking advantage of the prevailing situation and resorting to hoarding. He said that we expect the vegetable prices in the retail markets to stabilise with the arrival of a full-fledged monsoon. (With IANS Inputs)