BENGALURU
As the festive season begins, consumers across Karnataka are facing a sudden financial shock due to a sharp increase in the prices of essential sweeteners like sugar and jaggery.
Market reports indicate that retail sugar prices have jumped significantly, surging from roughly 50 rupees to around 75 rupees per kilogram. This represents an increase of nearly 40 percent for domestically produced stock. Traditional jaggery prices have escalated even faster, climbing past thousands of rupees per quintal within a very short span. Traders note that this unprecedented surge has created widespread anxiety in local markets.
Experts and merchants are debating the underlying causes, pointing to several compounding factors. Chief among them are a severe shortage of sugarcane supply, dropping agricultural yields caused by inadequate rainfall over recent months, and a sharp decline in regional jaggery production. Without sufficient water supply, many sugarcane fields have dried up prematurely, causing harvest quantities to drop by half compared to previous years.
Furthermore, trade volumes have plummeted drastically, with daily market arrivals of jaggery dropping sharply across major trading hubs. Industry veterans note that such a steep price escalation has rarely been witnessed since local trade markets were established. Consumers hope market conditions stabilize soon to ease household budgets during the upcoming celebrations.