Min: Crackdown on middlemen will bring down potato price
Times of India | 27 July 2024
Kolkata: Potato price is expected to come down further as the govt continues to crack down on middlemen, as instructed by CM Mamata Banerjee.
“The govt has stepped in to bring down potato prices. We have had talks with cold storage owners, potato traders’ associations and transporters and we hope the prices will return to being affordable shortly,” said Arup Roy, minister of food processing industries, on the sideline of Bengal Rice Conclave 2024, held by Indian Chamber of Commerce, on Friday.
Roy blamed middlemen for “price surge of agri-products”. “The govt is selling potato, onion and other essentials at Sufal Bangla for less,”he said. Roy told the audience the govt had got permission to export Bengal’s rice. “We will hold a food festival at Netaji Indoor Stadium from Aug 9 to 11, when our farmers will showcase their crops,” he said. Ministers Sovandeb Chattopadhyay and Pradip K Mazumdar were present.