Bengaluru: That refreshing paan you indulge in after meals is no longer easy on the wallet: Paanwallahs across the tech capital have hiked the prices of the traditional mouth freshener.
A minimum jump of Rs 5 in the prices of paans has been effected citing soaring ingredient costs. Betel leaves, the main component, have seen their prices nearly double. While a bundle (comprising 100 leaves) of locally grown betel leaves now costs anywhere between Rs 160 and Rs 200, the prices of higher quality ones have touched Rs 1,000 per bundle and those of superior quality increased to Rs 2,000 per bundle. Not just betel leaf, even gulkand price has gone up from Rs 80 to Rs 120 for a 200-gram pack, and copra prices have risen from Rs 20 to Rs 25 per 100 gram. All these have forced paan vendors to raise the prices once again; the previous revision happened in May-June last year.
A few paan and gulkand vendors TOI spoke to said the two main reasons behind the increase in the prices are the wedding season and the costlier betel leaves. Kapil Mishra, owner of Mishra Juice and Paan Centre on Commercial Street, said: “The price of betel leaves has gone up from Rs 800-900 per bundle (50-80 leaves) to Rs 2,000, compelling us to settle for one leaf rather than two while preparing a paan. Since it’s the wedding season as well, we have increased our prices.” The costs of paans vary according to the type of the leaf used.
Another vendor, Bhagya Vardhan, who has been running Santosh Paan Plaza at Malleswaram 14th Cross for the last nine years, also points to the betel leaf price rise. “Despite the hike in prices, we have seen customers coming in to consume paan. We have increased the prices by 10% because of the Ramzan festival demand and the wedding season.”
Locally, the city gets betel leaves from small pockets of Bangarpet, Malur, and Kolar taluks around Bengaluru. The prevailing hot conditions in Kolar district have affected the yield of betel leaves, as a result of which the prices in the market have gone up considerably. However, the local supply is often insufficient to meet the city’s demand, leading vendors to source leaves from other regions including Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Odisha.
“Arrivals at the local market, especially in Bangarpet, have decreased to a great extent. As a result, a bundle of one hundred leaves is sold at Rs 160-200 in the markets. With no sign of improvement in arrivals in the immediate future, the prices may go up further,” said Muninarayana, a vendor in Kolar.
Krishna Murthy, a betel leaf vendor from Chunchadenahalli off the Bengaluru-Chennai National Highway, said: “Since rains have not occurred in the last two months, new leaves are yet to sprout. Despite the increasing demand, the production has been on the decline.”
A senior researcher from the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research said, “Because of climate changes, this time the production has gone down by at least 30%. Besides that, post-Covid, the number of farmers who grow betel leaves is going down because of high labour costs as it’s a labour-intensive crop. The rise in the prices is not solely because of production but also due to the wedding and festive season demand.”
