Ahmedabad: Making yourself a glass of chilled nimbu pani to quench that summer thirst doesn’t seem to be that easy peasy, given the current price tag attached to the summer staple citrus fruit. Prices of limes, ranging from Rs 240 to Rs 300 a kg in western areas and also on quick commerce platforms, are giving household budgets quite the squeeze. Wholesale prices? Rs 120 to Rs 200 a kg. This, citizens say, is adding to their sweating from the searing summer heat, which is likely to only rise above 40 degrees celsius.Neighbourhood sabzi wallahs and wholesalers are saying high demand and low supply has made limes pricier. Market sources say size decides their prices. Small ones, around 40 pieces of which make a kg, are selling for Rs 120-Rs 140. Mid-quality limes too are priced similarly, but the large ones — around 20 in a kg — come for Rs 200.Chirag Prajapati, a wholesaler and chairman of the new APMC on the city’s outskirts says, “Gujarat is dependent on south India for a major share of the supply. Currently, Ahmedabad is getting around 60 tonnes every day against the daily requirement of 100-150 tonnes. Of this, 60 tonnes are from Gujarat itself ,” Prajapati said. A trader in the Jamalpur market said he has been buying only 50% of what he would earlier. According to the Jamalpur trader, intense heatwaves in major lime-growing states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have squeezed supply, and hence the shortage. Raju Prajapati, who runs a shop in Bopal, said, “I would get about 20kg of limes from the APMC. Now it’s only 10kg as the demand is low. I am selling them for Rs 280 a kg. Prices in Bopal range from Rs 280 to Rs 360 a kg.”
