Pune, Feb 25: The arrival of new stocks of essential commodities has led to a sharp drop in their prices in the wholesale market here.The past ten days have seen the prices of wheat drop by Rs 150, gram and gram dal by Rs 300-400, masoor dal by Rs 200 and jowar by Rs 50-75 (all prices refer to per quintal) in the Pune wholesale market. The fresh arrivals have changed the sentiment in the market which is already facing a cash crunch. The mid-term Lok Sabha elections and the end of the financial year within the next six weeks have adversely affected the market.
According to marketmen, new wheat arrivals in the past fortnight have been from the Saurashtra region. From today, new wheat has begun to arrive from other parts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The arrival of fresh stocks has caused wheat prices to fall sharply by Rs 150 per quintal. Saurashtra Lokwan wheat, offered at Rs 900 per quintal a fortnight ago, is now quoting at Rs 800-825.
Madhya Pradesh Lokwan wheat is down from Rs 850 to Rs 750 perquintal. Sihore, the best quality wheat, is also down by Rs 100-150 per quintal, and is now quoting at Rs 950-1,000 per quintal. Ahmednagar wheat, 2189, has also come down by Rs 725-775 per quintal.
The inferior quality wheat, Milber, has also dropped and is now quoting at Rs 650-670 per quintal. Another reason for the fall in prices is being attributed to the unseasonal rains in Madhya Pradesh which has caused discolouring of the wheat. The dark MP Lokwan which has come in the market is below the usual quality.
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