Summers are upon us and prices of lemons have already started pinching people in Gujarat’s Rajkot due to a shortage in supplies and a rise in the demand for the citrus fruit.
Lemons are currently being sold at Rs 200 per kg, as compared to the previous rates of Rs 50-60 per kg.
"The price of lemon is touching Rs 200/kg. It was around Rs 50-60/kg earlier. We have to fit everything into a budget. But this increase in price is affecting our 'kitchen budget'. We don't know when will the prices go down," a customer told ANI.
As the temperature increases, people prefer to include lemon in their diet as they are a rich source of Vitamin C and help in staying hydrated while promoting digestion. The increased consumption and shortage of supply have skyrocketed the prices of lemons.
"Prices of almost every vegetable have increased. But this is more than we had expected. It is difficult for a middle-class customer to buy such expensive vegetables. We are unable to buy lemons in a large quantity like we used to buy earlier. This increase is almost double the prices we were paying last year in the month of March, don't know what will happen in April-May," said Himanshu, a buyer.
"Earlier, we used to buy one kg of lemons per week but now we have to reduce it to 250 or 500 grams due to price surge. It has affected our expenses," said Pinal Patel, another buyer.
The surge in price has also affected the traders as the buyers are forced to buy lemons in less quantity after a sudden price surge. Hence, the increase in prices has affected both traders and buyers.
The rise in prices of lemons in Gujarat seems to be part of the other commodities that has seen a hike in the past few days. Petrol, diesel, LPG and jet fuel prices, all have seen a considerable jump in the prices.
Commercial LPG prices were increased by Rs 250 while Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) - the fuel that helps aeroplanes fly - was hiked by Rs 2,258.54 per kilolitre, or 2 per cent, to Rs 1,12,924.83 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers.
Jet fuel prices are revised on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average international price of benchmark fuel in the preceding fortnight. Jet fuel, which makes up for almost 40 per cent of the running cost of an airline, has this year surged to new highs.?
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