Food prices soar due to high profit

New Delhi: The high vegetable and food prices in recent years may be due to high margins charged by the retailers. The difference between wholesale price (WSP) and retail prices for essential vegetables have gone up beyond 49 per cent in the year 2013-14 underscoring the widening gaps between the prices at which procurement is done from farmers and the price level for consumers, according to an Assocham paper.

Majority of Indian retailers are selling vegetables at prices which are significantly higher than the WSP, reveals Assocham’s latest study on “Vegetables Whole-sale and Retail Price Discrepancy”.
Normally, the difference between WSP and retail prices on an average stays around 30 per cent, said Assocham. “Due to difference in prices of wholesale and retail, the extra amount which end consumers are paying for vegetables is utterly disproportionate,” said the industry body.

The study had considered nearly 33 market centers in India including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nasik and Trivendrum. “In the recent past, inflation has been a major concern for the policy makers. Both level of prices ‘consumer price and wholesale price’ inflation has been very high especially in the case of consumer price inflation. It has been around ten percent except fourth quarter in 2013-14,” said Assocham, an industry body. Assocham urged the government to play a crucial role to protect the interest of producers.