The price of arhar dal in Odisha has jumped from Rs110 a kg to Rs125, a rise of Rs15 in just last four days.Traders ascribe the sudden spurt in the price of arhar dal to low stock positions of the commodity in the international market and said there is no possibility of a dip in the price for next few months.
While good quality arhar dal is selling at Rs12,500 a quintal, moong dal is selling between Rs80-96 a kg. However, there has been no change in the price of urad dal, which still sells at its earlier price of Rs120 a kg.
According to Federation of All Odisha Traders’ Association (FAOTA) secretary Sudhakar Panda, the price of arhar dal has gone up even at places where it is produced.Stocks available in Myanmar are not sufficient to meet international demand, as a result of which its price there has increased to Rs11,500 a quintal.
With transportation expenses and 5% VAT added, the landing cost of the dal here is around Rs12,200 per quintal. “We are keeping a paltry margin of Rs100/150 per quintal and selling at Rs12,300 to the retailers. At the retailer level, the selling price touches Rs12,500 a quintal.”
The price would stabilise only around January next year when the new crop is harvested in Myanmar, Panda said.It would be November when new crop is harvested in the pulses-growing areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the country.Since there is little stock of dal available in the market, the price is bound to shoot up. The only way the price can fall a little is if the Government waives VAT on it to provide some relief to the consumers, he said.