Food grains (wheat and rice) have only a 5% weightage in the wholesale price index but being an item of every day consumption, even a small rise in their prices affects the household budget. Wheat flour (atta) prices have more than doubled in the past 14 years.
Then: Price of atta was between Rs 9 and Rs 14 a kg in 1994
Now: It now sells for Rs 20-30 a kg, a rise of 115% in 14 years
Then: If wheat prices keep rising at the same rate, a kg of atta may cost up to Rs 43-64 in 2020.
The rise in prices of wheat and rice has not pushed up the cost of chappatis and idlis alone. It has also had a ripple effect on prices of other food products in the urban consumption basket that use wheat and rice flour—such as bread, biscuits, baby food, rusks, noodles and buns.
