Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

Cracker prices go up by 30 per cent

Photo: M. Moorthy

PRICE JITTERS: Customers at a cracker shop in Tiruchi on Wednesday. —

TIRUCHI: The fizz of fireworks could be subdued this Deepavali as the cost of fire crackers had gone up by 25 to 30 per cent this year.

Most middle income group families demur at the mention of cracker prices this year. “Unable to stand the pestering by my children, I bought crackers for about Rs.600. But there were just half-a-dozen items in the small packet. The list drawn up by my children worked out to over Rs.1,800 and I had to prune it drastically. I could not afford any of the new products, many of which were priced at Rs.150 and above,” says R.Gopalakrishnan, a technician with the State Transport Corporation.

A box of small flower pots, which cost about Rs.30 last year, is now sold at Rs.36 to Rs.40. Most of the other children’s popular items such as chakkars, roll caps and rockets have all gone up substantially. Gift boxes, depending on the choices, are now sold between Rs.300 and Rs.2,000 in most retail shops.

Though a wholesale dealer of Standard Fireworks claimed that prices of their products have increased only by 11 to 16 per cent, most retail traders selling diverse brands said that prices have gone up by 25 to 30 per cent, citing the increase in raw materials. Most of them say that business has been dull until last weekend. “Business has picked up only over the past couple of days and we hope that the rains would abate,” says a retail trader.

The rains over the past few days have also come as a dampener for many small traders, who opt for the seasonal business. There has also been a visible drop in the number of cracker shops in the city.

And these are bad tidings for kids and youngsters, for whom Deepavali is not complete without a spectacular binge of fireworks.

But the price factor could play spoilsport in the annual sound and light show this time around.

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