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Dry chillis being smuggled into State

Ignatius Pereira

Cent per cent rise in prices since April

KOLLAM: The current retail price of dried chillis has crossed Rs.80 a kilogram and it is a 100 per cent rise since April. Wholesale dealers predict that the price is poised to keep climbing further till March.

The situation has resulted in large-scale smuggling of dried chillis into the State from neighbouring States. Recent detections by the intelligence wing of the Commercial Taxes Department are an indication of how the hot prices of dried chilli has converted it into a commodity worth smuggling.

On October 26, sleuths of the Commercial Taxes Department intercepted a truck which on record was carrying 6.22 tonnes of dried chillis originating from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh.

On inspection, it was found that the truck carried 9.22 tonnes of the commodity, three tonnes in excess of what was declared at the Aryankavu check post.

Since no one came forward to claim the consignment, the entire load was seized under Section 47(16) of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 and sold in public auction. The auctioned fetched Rs.2.14 lakh for the exchequer.

In another inspection, the sleuths detected dry chilli being brought into the State via the medium of undervaluation. In this instance, 1,852 kg of dry chillis were seized from a lorry in Kollam. The price shown at the check post was Rs.38 a kg. The officers estimated it to be an undervaluation of 53 per cent. Under Section 45 of the Kerala VAT Act, the Commercial Taxes Department can purchase any commodity brought into the State by paying 10 per cent over and above the declared price. Under this section, the consignment of dried chillis was seized and entrusted to the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation for a price of Rs.74,434.

Acute shortage

If the Corporation were to purchase the same quantity at the prevailing market rate, it would have cost Rs.1,11,745. Wholesale dealers of dry chilli said that the acute shortage of the commodity in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu had pushed the prices up. During March-April this year, the prices ranged between Rs.30 and Rs.40 a kg. In May, the price touched Rs.55 and during the Onam season, it crossed Rs.60.

Unseasonal rains had damaged the crops and stock of dry chillis at the main harvest centres, Guntur being the prime one.

The commodity being an unavoidable ingredient for most recipes in the daily meals, the demand remained steady even as the supply fell. The traders said that the next chilli harvest season would begin only by February-end.

Depleting stocks

With a steady demand and depleting stocks, the retail price of dried chilli is expected to cross Rs.100 a kg by the end of the year, the wholesale dealers said.

Another Kerala cuisine favourite commodity which is also encountering a steep price rise is green gram.

There has been a 100 per cent price rise for this commodity too during the last couple of months and the prices continue going up.

While the pre Onam price for green gram was Rs.20 a kg, the current price is Rs.40.

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Dry chillis being smuggled into State

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