Egg prices hit the roof in Karimnagar, now selling for up to Rs 8 each

Traders are exploiting the situation by raising prices. While some are selling eggs for Rs 6.16 to Rs 7 each, others are charging up to Rs 8 per egg. Despite traders setting their own prices, no government department is intervening. Normally, eggs are priced between Rs 5.30 and Rs 6, with slight increases occurring only in exceptional cases, such as large-scale deaths of layer birds due to disease or extreme weather conditions in summer.

Karimnagar: The price of eggs is skyrocketing. There is a Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 jump in the price of each egg in the recent past. Export to other states as well as blocking of eggs for the purpose of Christmas and new year celebrations were main reasons for the price spurt.

Taking it as an advantage, traders are hiking prices. While some of the traders are selling each egg for Rs 6.16 to Rs 7 each, a few of them sell at Rs 8 each. Though the traders are fixing the price on their own, no government department is bothered about the price.

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Except in exceptional situations, an egg is usually sold at Rs 5.30 to Rs 6 each. The price may slightly get hiked if layer birds die in a big way due to any disease or hot weather conditions in summer. Otherwise, there would not be a major change in the price.

Presently, each egg is being sold at Rs 6.30 to Rs 7 each by wholesale traders. Retailers are selling at Rs 7 to Rs 7.30. A tray of eggs (30 eggs) used to be available in between Rs 150 to Rs 160. However, it rose to Rs 185 to Rs 210. Surprisingly, some of the traders are selling a tray of eggs at Rs 240 in the name of protein eggs.

A wholesale trader said that earlier, eggs used to be exported to Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh states. However, traders from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were also approaching the egg traders since Telangana was famous for its poultry industry.

Moreover, they were paying an additional amount of 50 paise per egg than that of local traders. So, poultry owners were selling eggs to them, creating a shortage in the state. On the other hand, some traders are creating artificial shortage by blocking eggs. On the eve of Christmas and new year, some traders are storing eggs in cold storages.

People usually welcome new-year by cutting cakes. Since eggs are an essential part in the preparation of cakes, traders were creating an artificial shortage to make many.
Speaking to Telangana Today, Srinivas, owner of Venkateshwara egg center, said that every day, he used to sell 100 trays of eggs. Now, it has come down to 50 trays. Though he was ready to sell 100 trays, poultry owners were not supplying eggs. Karimnagar is a major center for the poultry industry. Every day, about 75 lakh eggs have been produced in around 350 poultry farms spread in the erstwhile Karimnagar district.