WB govt asks traders to sell potatoes at Rs 14/kg

Sets July 8 as deadline for traders to control the price of the commodity

In view of the rising prices of potatoes, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee today gave July 8 deadline to trader to control the price of the commodity.

The chief minister instructed the traders to sell potatoes at Rs 1200 per quintal , and retail at Rs 1400 per quintal. At present, retail potato prices are hovering at Rs 17-20 per kg, while wholesale prices are at Rs 14 per kg. The chief minister said the state government would ban of interstate movement of potatoes if prices don’t come down by July 8, said sources.

This year, potato production in West Bengal is estimated at around 9 million tonne, against more than 10 million tonnes last year, which kept prices firm.

West Bengal consumes nearly 5.5 million tonnes are domestically consumed, while the rest are exported. “It will be very difficult to sell potatoes at Rs 14 a kg, as this year, during the time of loading itself at cold storages, potato prices were as high as Rs 900 per quintal,” said Sukumar Samanta, a potato trader in Singur-Ratanpur area.Last year, in November, when potato prices had risen West Bengal had taken steps like direct procurement and sale at Rs 13 a kg, ban on exports and the deadline to vacate cold storages. The result: prices of potato in the open market are now Rs 15-20 a kg in West Bengal from nearly Rs 40 a kg sometime earlier. With the cost of production at Rs 5 a kg, the rent for keeping a kg of potato in cold storage is nearly a third of the total cost at Rs 2 a kg.

Once the potatoes are sold to middlemen, it is a sophisticated trade of potato bonds. Potato bonds are simply paper slips marking the potatoes in the storages

These bonds change multiple hands, often sold at a premium.