The figure has been arrived at after taking into account the extra amount wholesalers at Vashi's Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) received during April-September after rates rose since March.
A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that the APMC made Rs 765 crore. Since retail prices are at least 50% more than wholesale prices, people in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region paid Rs 1,150 crore extra (a 50% retail mark-up on Rs 765 crore).
The actual extra amount the public paid could be much higher than the estimate: APMC sources said retailers often hike prices by 60-70% and sometimes by over 100%.
"This is sheer profiteering. But since July, the profiteering trend has been under control, mainly because of the government's opening of 121 fair-price outlets in the MMR," said a source.
In January-March, the APMC earned Rs 7.5 crore a day on an average on a sale of 3,000 tonnes of vegetables. At the time, wholesale vegetable prices were in the range of Rs 20-25 per kg. After March, when wholesale prices almost doubled because of inflation and alleged hoarding and profiteering, the APMC earned around Rs 14 crore a day on an average on the sale of the same tonnage in April-June. When prices went down in the July-September period (but were still higher than January-March) the APMC earned Rs 9.5 crore a day on an average.
Agriculture and marketing expert and APMC director Sanjay Pansare blamed the increased prices of vegetables on the "open market trend". He said traders are buying stocks directly from farmers and middlemen. "Traders from across the state go to places like Lasalgaon, Narayangaon and Pimplgaon, where stocks of onions, tomatoes, cabbages and other main vegetables are sold to them directly. The stocks should ideally arrive at the APMC first and from the APMC should go to traders."
He said middlemen often buy from farmers and then sell to the APMC for a profit, making prices soar. "Such traded stock from the villages costs even more when another chunk of traders buy it from the APMC and sell it to retailers. Thus, consumers end up paying many times more than what it took to produce the vegetables in the first place."
Pansare also said that the APMC's turnover was not as high as experts believe it to be. "It's true that the common man has had to pay through his nose for vegetables in recent months, but that is because of the reasons I mentioned. The APMC's turnover has been low because during the same period, stocks went down from the pre-April levels."
But some experts, who did not want to be named, refused to buy Pansare's version of the turnover and refuted his statement that the stocks had gone down.
Metro needs 169 more subsidized vegetables outlets
Thane and Navi Mumbai need at least 300 fair-price outlets for the cost of vegetables to come down appreciably. At present, the metropolitan region has 121 subsidized vegetable selling centres.
Consumers and market experts said the impact of the centres has been limited. "For retailers to bring down prices, they must feel the pinch. We need more fair-price shops for this to happen," said an expert. The 121 centres sell 34 types of vegetables for 30-40% less than market rates. Each of the outlets sells up to 550 kg of vegetables a day.
Explaining the limited impact of the centres, a trader at Vashi's Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) said that 300 to 350 people buy vegetables at each centre a day, which comes to between 36,300 and 42,350 buyers across all the centres a day. "This is a small number, given the massive consumer base of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region," he said. Compared to the centres, South Mumbai alone has nearly 13,000 retailers or vendors and suburban Mumbai an equal number, said an expert. About 10,000 more are spread across Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Kalyan-Dombivli.
Some experts say the centres have had a greater effect to bring down prices in their vicinity. APMC sources said the existing centres had saved consumers at least Rs 200 crore since they opened.
"Going by their effect in their immediate neighbourhood, one can safely say that that the addition of say 169 centres would go a great deal further to keep prices in control," said citizen activist Rajeev Chaugule, who lives in Bhandup. "I lament the fact that the government has been unable to increase the number of fair-price outlets."
Lalbaug residents Avinash Satam and Ritesh Mujumdar said areas like Parel, Malabar Hill, Hindmata, Sion Koliwada, Nariman Point, Mazgaon, Matunga, Colaba, Worli, Marine Drive and Grant Road have only one centre each despite being densely populated. "Such areas have the capacity for many more fair-price shops."
Meanwhile, traders have predicted a slide in vegetable prices following a good monsoon; also, farmers will be forced to deliver their stocks to the market quicker because of a lack of good storage facilities. APMC trader Mohan Dongare said the rise in prices after March was caused by a supply shortage owing to insufficient rains last year. "It was a bad monsoon that affected the yield. But with bountiful rains this year, the markets will have an overflow of vegetables as storing them will be a problem in the villages. This will ultimately bring down prices for consumers."
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