Experts blame Centre for soaring potato prices

Kolkata: At a time when the price of potatoes has shot up to Rs 40 per kg in the city, experts blamed the Centre for such inflation.

"The Government of India should be answerable as to why the price of potato has increased up to Rs 40 per kg. The Essential Commodities Act 2020 has usurped the state's authority way back on June 6, 2020 through an ordinance to check price rise," said Pradip Majumdar, Agricultural Advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

He reiterated that the control measures are with the Centre and not with the state government. In 2014, the State Government had controlled a similar situation by imposing cess on the export of potatoes outside the state. However, the Centre's recent move has left states with no option in maintaining supply and rate of such produce.

In such a scenario, vendors here apprehend that the price of potatoes is expected to increase in the near future due to short supply and less production.

Earlier in February, the Chief Minister had directed concerned officers to initiate procurement of 10 lakh tones of potato so that it can be later distributed among people at the minimum price possible. The concerned department had initiated procurement of the same through cold storages. However, only 45,000 tones of potato were procured. According to a senior officer, it had not become possible to procure more as the entire mechanism had come to a standstill due to the nationwide lockdown on March 24.

Coming to the rescue of the buyers, the state government has taken up the initiative to distribute the procured stocks through Sufal Bangla stalls of the state Agriculture Marketing department.

Meanwhile, buyers in the city markets are feeling the pinch. With price of onions also remaining high, it's double whammy for them. "Today, we are selling potatoes at Rs 40 per kg. The price of onion is Rs 70 per kg. The price is high because potatoes are being exported from West Bengal to other states. There are other reasons also," said Sandip, a vendor at Park Circus Market.

The price of potatoes is likely to come down with the fresh arrival of crops in the market by mid-December.