After rice, it is now the turn of potatoes from West Bengal to pamper the taste buds of Keralites. Kerala government’s retail arm Supplyco, which has more than 2,500 outlets across the state, is all set to sell potatoes from West Bengal.
According to a long-term supply contract signed with West Bengal Essential Goods Corporation, Supplyco has agreed to purchase 240 tonne of potato in the first phase, which will be sold lower than the prevailing market price in the state.
At present, potatoes are selling at a price range of Rs 12 – Rs 15 per kilo in Kerala. Supplyco aims to make West Bengal potatoes available at Rs 8.90 per kilo. ?These cheap potatoes would be available from next week,? a Supplyco official told FE.
Meanwhile, competing with another Kerala government retail outfit Consumerfed, Supplyco has also decided to sell rice sourced from West Bengal. While Consumerfed had already flooded the market with Bengal-grown IRRI-1001, Supplyco is eyeing the Swarna rice variety.
Unlike Consumerfed, which has bought its rice from wholesale merchants in Kolkata, Supplyco has entered into a government-to-government deal with the West Bengal corporation. This has translated to lower prices and better bargain price for consumers Supplyco buys `Swarna’ rice at Rs 10 per kilo.
Meanwhile, the credit of bringing down the Kerala market price for the popularly used rice from Rs 24 per kilo (for the Andhra rice variety Jaya) to Rs 16 per kilo (West Bengal-grown IRRI-1001) goes to Consumerfed. However, with Supplyco’s Swarna rice from West Bengal, Kerala consumers are slated to get it at a further reduced price of Rs 14 per kilo.
The main losers are the Andhra rice traders, who had been enjoying seven years of monopoly of ‘Jaya’ rice in the Kerala market. When Andhra Government clamped a levy on local rice to cater to its ?rice for Rs 2 per kilo scheme?, the surplus available for inter-state trade became less and which resulted in increase in prices of rice. By default, the crisis has opened a new trade route between the red political sibling states in the country’s eastern and southern tips. The growing sales at the Kerala government shelves amply hints that potato is not going to be the last item in the shopping list to West Bengal farms.