by Sarmad Dev
SRINAGAR: As the Taliban took over Afghanistan last week, the important export chain that evolved over the years between Delhi and Kabul has completely been disrupted. This has led to the acute scarcity and massive price hike to various dry fruits being imported from Kabul.
This has landed Kashmir’s dry fruit sellers in a sort of turmoil. Stuck between the increases in prices and managing the client base, they are fighting the impact of the changed geopolitics.
Reports said that orders of these dry fruits worth over Rs 100 crore have been cancelled pan India and orders of around Rs 20 crore placed by the traders of J&K got cancelled due to instability and tension in Afghanistan.
“The biggest concern among the sellers are Giri, which was Rs 600 a kilogram now selling at Rs 1100,” one trader said. Dried fig is also in dire shortage.
Most of the wholesale dealers, however, were hesitant to speak about the impact.” Ups and downs happen in the market all the time,” one over-cautious trader said.
But the retailers were blunt. “Ups and downs are ok but prices do not shoot up more than double,” one retailer said. “We have never seen this crisis.”
The new process, another retailer said, are “literally frightening” the customers. “We used to get Giri at Rs 400-600 and now it’s above Rs 1000.”
The new concern is the fast depletion of the stocks. “It is embarrassing as some of the clients think, we are profiteering,” one retailer in Mahraj Bazar said.
