Prices of common man's beverage not so friendly

Prices of two key ingredients -- tea and milk -- have gone up by up to 30 per cent and 22 per cent respectively in the last one year in almost all major cities.     

Even relatively stable sugar prices, which stood in the range of Rs 14-20 a kg for the last one year, have done nothing to help the cause of tea lovers.     

The wholesale price-based inflation data released today showed that prices of tea have gone up by three per cent and milk by one per cent for the week ended June 14.     
According to the data maintained by the Consumer Affairs Ministry of 17 major cities in the country, including the four metros, retail prices of tea (loose) have shot up by the maximum 30 per cent in Ahmedabad to Rs 130 a kg as on June 18, 2008 against Rs 100 a kg a year-ago.     

Milk prices rose highest in Guwahati by over 22 per cent to Rs 22 from Rs 18 a litre in the review period.     

Apart from the four metros, the other 13 cities monitored by the government are Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizwal, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Patna, Shillong, Shimla and Thiruvananthapuram.     

Barring Agartala, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Lucknow where tea prices either remained stable or declined, the prices rose at all centres in the range of 3-30 per cent.     
Tea prices inched up to Rs 200 from Rs 170 a kg in Shillong, while in Chennai, prices soared to Rs 240 from Rs 210 a kg. Rising trend was seen in Guwahati where tea became costlier by Rs 10 and is available at Rs 85 a kg.