Tuver price dips by Rs 3,000 per quintal but a corresponding reduction still not visible in retail The retail prices of pulses,particularly tuver,which is consumed the most in the state,continue to be firm despite the fact that wholesale prices of pulses have dipped in the last one month with new arrivals. What is surprising is that none of these commodities is allowed to be traded on commodity exchanges,which are primarily held responsible for rise in prices of food items all over the country. In fact,prices of sugar,in which future trade was banned by the government a year ago,continue to rise and went up from Rs 25 per kg in May last year to Rs 44 per kg now. According to wholesale dealers,the rate of tuver went down by about Rs 3,000 per quintal in the wholesale market about a month ago,but a corresponding reduction is not visible in the retail market. One of the biggest wholesale dealers for pulses in the state,Bhagwandas Sadhnani of Jamnagar,said the prices of tuver came down to Rs 5,000 per quintal a fortnight ago with no reduction whatsoever in the retail market anywhere in the state. According to Sadhnani,prices of other commodities like chana and moong also went down drastically with fresh arrivals. According to him,while wholesale prices of desi chana (gram) and kabuli variety went down to Rs 26 and Rs 40 per kg,the retail prices continue to be firm with these two varieties being sold in the retail market in the range of Rs 40-45 and Rs 70-80 per kg respectively. Another wholesale dealer in pulses,Tahir Ranapurwala of Dahod,which is the biggest tuver market in the state,said tuver rate fell down from Rs 7,500-8,000 per quintal to Rs 5,000 when the new crop arrived a month ago from Maharashtra and other parts of the state. Even now,the wholesale price is not more than Rs 5,800 per quintal even for the best variety of tuver,but Tahir is surprised at the retail prices remaining firm. Asked if the arrival was less compared to the last season,Tahir said there was no shortage of the commodity. According to him,the offtake was less this year,indicating that the retail dealers had hoarded the commodity when its prices had gone up before the season and they were still to clear the old stocks. According to a commodity expert,the retailers seem to have developed the capacity to hoard the material,and so were not bringing down the prices. But Ahmedabad-based commodity researcher Binu Alex said the effect on retail prices are exhibited only after a month of the changes in the wholesale market because its takes three to four weeks time for the commodity to reach the retailers from the wholesalers.
