Prices of essential food items in state soared last year
 Mumbai:
The people of Maharashtra have been paying through their nose to
keep their kitchens going over the past year and the
government’s recent Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2009-10 only
underlines this fact.
In just a year, essential ingredients like potatoes, sugar,
gur, moong dal and tur dal became costlier by 50% or more in
urban areas, according to the survey, which compared prices from
April to December of 2009 with the corresponding period in 2008.
The cost of onions, ghee and turmeric powder—which are used
in a vast majority of Mumbai’s kitchens—rose by 25 to 50% and
the cost of milk, eggs, fish, chicken and mutton went up by up
to 25%.
The prices are not expected to return to the April 2009
levels soon, as statistics in the survey also show a high
inflationary trend. While inflation for the past five years
peaked in 2008-09 at 12.9% in urban areas and 13.2% for rural
areas, it remained at a high 9.9% and 11.4% for both these areas
in 2009-10. The state is also reeling because 31% of its
population lives below the poverty line, as against the 27.5%
all-India level.
Consumer indexes saw
highest rises in 5 years
 Mumbai:
The high inflationary rate prevailing across Maharashtra
compelled the Directorate of Economics & Statistics to assess
the price situation. The directorate collected the retail prices
of essential commodities and services on a weekly basis from
selected centers in rural and urban areas of the state. On the
basis of these prices, a monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) was
compiled separately for rural and urban areas.
The resulting study revealed that the cost of rice had risen
by up to 25% across Maharashtra in 2009 as compared to 2008.
Garlic, which
is used in many urban kitchens, became 25 to 50% dearer in both urban
and rural markets.
INFLATION
Inflation has been estimated at 9.9% for urban areas and
11.4% for rural areas across the state in 2009-10. It has grown
steadily since 2005-06, when it was at a healthy 3.2% in urban
and 3.8% in rural areas. (See, ‘Life gets costlier.’)
Minor inflation of 3 to 4% is an indicator of growth, as it
encourages production and does not discourage consumption.
Inflation is measured through the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)
as well as the
Consumer Price Index (CPI). The WPI is based on the prices of
commodities in the wholesale markets or the prices at which bulk
transactions take place. The CPI is based on the prices at which
the consumer purchases commodities in the local market or the
prices at which retail transactions take place.
URBAN PRICES
While assessing prices in urban areas, the weekly retail
prices of 127 commodities were collected from 74 centres. For
April 2009, the CPI for urban areas was 144.1, which increased
to 165.9 in December 2009, a rise of 21.8 points that was the
highest in the past five years. In the food group, the rise was
clearly due to costlier rice, wheat, tur dal, moong dal, potato,
onion and sugar.
In 2009-10 (till December 2009), the average CPI for urban
areas was 154.3, which increased by 9.9% over the corresponding
period of the previous year (140.5). In the food group alone,
the increase was 15.5%. Apart from this, a rise in electricity
charges after September 2009 also resulted in an increase in the
index for the fuel, power and light group.
RURAL PRICES
For assessing the price situation in rural areas, weekly
retail prices of 106 commodities were collected from 68 centers.
The CPI for rural areas for April 2009 was 149.3, which
continuously increased and reached 172.8 in December 2009, thus
recording a rise of 23.5 points during the year, the highest
ever in the last five years. This rise was mainly due to an
increase in the prices of rice, wheat, tur dal, moong dal,
potato, onion and sugar in the food group.
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