Chandigarh, August 24: Retail prices of daily food staples have surged across Punjab, with unbranded wheat flour rising by Rs 3 per kg and major brands introducing price tags up to Rs 500 for a 10-kg bag. The price climb extends across multiple kitchen categories, with sugar reaching Rs 70 to Rs 75 per kg and unbranded mustard oil climbing to Rs 180 per litre from Rs 140 just a month ago.
The broader price movement has placed an immediate strain on daily household balance sheets. Hira Singh, a roadside vendor, declared that higher petrol, diesel, and LPG prices, coupled with the increase in atta, sugar, and mustard oil, had raised his family’s daily living cost, maintaining that these items remain non-negotiable staples in daily meals.
Industry experts point to the depletion of locally held grain stocks as the primary driver behind the flour price uptick. Naresh Ghai, president of the Punjab Roller Flour Mills Association, affirmed that the central government had procured 122 lakh tonnes of wheat from Punjab during the April harvest season, accounting for 98 per cent of the state’s wheat production. He stated that the remaining two per cent was stocked by flour millers, and with that stock exhausted, millers were now buying wheat from other states.
This reliance on outer-state supply has driven up procurement costs for processing units. Raghav Arora, a flour miller, maintained that wheat was procured at the MSP of Rs 2,585 per quintal in April, whereas millers were now buying the same quantity at approximately Rs 2,800. He asserted that since millers were not doing any value addition to the product, the increase in atta prices largely reflected the higher cost of wheat and processing.
Millers across the state emphasize that seasonal procurement patterns regularly leave local markets facing supply tightness. Ghai asserted that this happens every year after the procurement season, declaring that Punjab becomes wheat deficient once state procurement closes. He maintained that the Union government should come out with a special policy for the state as it has been the country’s food bowl.
The price adjustments have hit neighborhood stores that cater exclusively to modest-income demographics. Buta Ram, a neighborhood retail grocer, stated that he was selling 10-kg bags of unbranded wheat flour for Rs 350 after wholesalers raised their rates from Rs 315. He declared that he does not sell branded atta since the majority of his customers come from middle- and lower-middle-income families.
