Prices of veggies, fruits rise further in Delhi markets due to higher fuel rates impact: Traders

Vegetable and fruit traders, however, said that rates were not that steep at this point but indicated that these consumables might get dearer in the coming weeks if diesel prices continue to swell in the same fashion.

In the national capital, petrol is selling at Rs 98.81 per liter on Wednesday, while diesel is priced at Rs 89.18 per liter.

Rajendra Sharma, a wholesale vegetable and fruit trader at Delhi's largest Azadpur Mandi, said that prices of wholesale and retail vegetables and fruits have increased slightly.

"Wholesale prices of onion are now in the range of Rs 23-25 per kg, while during normal scenario at this time of the season, rates would be around Rs 16-20 a kg. Similarly, pomegranate, which comes from Maharashtra, is priced around Rs 70-90 per kg. It normally sells at around Rs 60-80 during this time of the season,'' he said.

The trader attributed the price rise to a hike in transportation costs. Now that diesel rates have almost touched Rs 90 per liter in Delhi, transporters have revised their fee, Sharma said.

A wholesale trader at Okhla Mandi, Haji Yamin, corroborated the price hike in staple vegetables such as onion, tomato, and potato. ''Onion and tomato come to Delhi mainly from Maharashtra while potato from Shimla and Uttar Pradesh. Since the prices of diesel have increased quite a bit so it has also raised the transportation cost. Another factor which is contributing to the hike is longer detours being taken by truckers due to farmers' protests at Delhi borders,'' Yamin said.

He added that wholesale prices of onion were Rs 25-27 per kg in Okhla Mandi while tomato was selling at Rs 20-22 per kg. ''Normally, wholesale prices of onion, tomato, and potato used to range around Rs 15-18 per kg, Rs 12-16 per kg, and Rs 8-10 per kg, respectively. Generally, if wholesale rates of any vegetable go up by Rs 5 per kg, it translates into a retail hike of Rs 10-12 per kg of that vegetable," Yamin said.

He, however, said that there was not much impact of fuel price hike on seasonal fruits like mango as those are perishable items and also come from a shorter distance like Haryana and UP.

Subodh Mandal, a retailer in south Delhi's Greater Kailash market, said, ''The prices of vegetables such as onion, tomato, potato, etc have started increasing slightly. It is because of the fuel price hike. In retail markets, good quality onion is selling at Rs 50-60 per kg, tomato at Rs 40-45 per kg. Retail prices of potato are around Rs 20-25 per kg.'' Consumers too are complaining of the price rise of vegetables. 

''Today (Wednesday) I bought onion for Rs 52 per kg and tomato for Rs 42 per kg. These are increased rates as around a fortnight back I bought these staple vegetables for Rs 45 per kg and Rs 35 per kg, respectively,'' Deepak Rastogi, a resident of Lajpat Nagar, said.

He said that, though the hike is not very steep if fuel prices keep on going upward in the same fashion, vegetables can get dearer in the coming weeks.