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Half cup of the Rs. 10 tea will now be available for Rs. 15
Ahmedabad, Gujarat : Tea, which is intertwined with the daily life and culture of Ahmedabad city, is now proving to be expensive for common citizens and tea lovers. The wave of inflation that has disrupted the kitchen budget of housewives has now reached the tea stalls on the roads. Due to the continuous increase in the price of sugar in the market for the last few days, tea kettles and tea stalls in various areas of Ahmedabad have officially increased the prices of tea and coffee. The traders have had to take this decision as the cost of making tea has increased due to the increase in the price of sugar.
A well-known tea stall owner near Gujarat College Gate, which is considered the main abode of students and employees of the city, has implemented revised prices of tea and coffee. According to the new price, the price of half tea available till now at Rs 10 has been increased by Rs 5 to Rs 15. Apart from this, the price of half coffee available at Rs 15 has increased to Rs 20. Not only tea in a cup, but also the parcel facility has been changed. The trader has completely stopped giving tea parcels of Rs 10 and has now started tea parcels of a minimum of Rs 20.
The main reason behind this sudden increase in tea prices is the explosive increase in the prices of raw materials. According to the tea stall owner, in the short period of the last 10 days alone, there has been a huge increase of Rs 25 to 30 per kg in the price of sugar. The price of sugar, which was available in the market at Rs 45 per kg 10 days ago, has now increased to Rs 70. With the cost of basic ingredients like sugar becoming so high, the daily expenses of tea sellers have skyrocketed and their earnings have become negligible.
The tea stall owner, while presenting his case, said that earlier when the prices of commercial gas cylinders had increased, he did not increase the prices of tea keeping in mind the convenience of the customers and had borne the loss himself. But now, on the one hand, the high gas rate and on the other hand, the steep increase in the price of sugar – both of these have made it impossible to run the business. As the daily expenses have increased and the profits have completely decreased, finally, we have had to take the counterproductive step of increasing the prices of tea and coffee. We did not burden the customers even when the gas prices increased earlier. But in the last 10 days, sugar has gone straight from Rs. 45 to Rs. 70. The cost of making tea has increased and the earnings have completely decreased. We had no choice but to increase the prices to continue the business.
Customers say that a 50 percent increase in the price of Rs 10 tea is too much. Tea lovers have also reacted strongly to this price increase, saying that in this era of inflation, even drinking tea has become an expensive affair for the common man. With the direct increase of Rs 5 in the price of tea, there is a lot of displeasure among tea lovers who enjoy sipping tea sitting at the kettle daily. Especially students around Gujarat College, corporate employees and local businessmen who have the habit of drinking tea 3 to 4 times a day, this increase has directly affected their monthly budget.
Report – Abhijit Tushar Bhatt (Political Editor)
