KARACHI, Sept 24: In an unusual development, a number of pushcart owners and roadside vendors have emerged to sell various rice varieties at very low rates at Jodia Bazaar, the city’s main wholesale market.

Wholesalers are offloading rice in the markets from their shops and godowns fearing a further loss in prices on the expectation of a bumper crop this year followed by a price drop in the world markets.

In a sharp contrast, the retailers have not yet reduced prices of various rice varieties despite a massive drop in its prices in the last two months. They are still charging 80-90 per cent higher retail prices than the prevailing wholesale prices in Jodia Bazaar.

The pushcarts and stall owners in Jodia Bazaar are offering basmati rice at Rs60 per kg and super basmati at Rs65 which are available at Rs80-90 and Rs110-120 per kg in the retail markets.

“I am selling rice on pushcart after a gap of at least two years,” a rice seller said, adding that he bought rice from shops in the wholesale market. It means that the actual rates are lower than the ones quoted by him, as he is charging some profit from the customers also. Another rice seller said he was selling rice on a pushcart after a gap of four years.

It may be noted here that these rice sellers are deceiving the customers either by selling a different variety as basmati and super basmati or blending them with low quality rice.

“This is Rice-386 and not super basmati as shown in the 100kg bag lying near the pushcart,” one of the rice dealers told Dawn in a low tone because of customers’ presence.

He said except for one or two shops in the wholesale markets, a majority of the wholesalers had either mixed various quantities to sell them as high-quality basmati rice. He added that even the retailers in the markets sold blended rice varieties and charged the price of high quality rice.

Many customers, having no knowledge of quality, are making heavy purchases in the wholesale markets, but some quality-conscious buyers appear reluctant to buy it. Karachi Wholesaler Grocers Association Chairman Anis Majeed said the wholesale price of super basmati kernal had dropped to Rs80 from Rs100-110 per kg a month back, while the Irri-6 and Irri-9 varieties had come down to Rs32 and Rs40 from Rs45 and Rs55 per kg, respectively. Similarly, rice-386 had fallen sharply to Rs52-55 per kg from Rs84.

He said the new crop of non-basmati rice would arrive in October while basmati rice would hit the markets in November. Pakistan is likely to harvest a bumper crop of 6.5 million tons this year as compared to 5.5 million tons of last year.

In the world markets buyers have slowed down their purchases in anticipation of a further plunge in rice prices. “These factors have forced the market players and hoarders to release the stocks in the markets in fear of further price fall on the arrival of new crop next month,” he added.

The city government has also fixed the rice prices below the prevailing market rates but retailers have been ignoring it since the first of Ramazan. They are charging Rs120-125 per kg for kernal basmati as against its official price of Rs113 per kg. Similarly the kernel basmati rate has been fixed at Rs88 per kg but retailers demand Rs90-100 per kg.

On Sept 22, Minister of Bureau of Supply and Prices Syed Shoaib Ahmed Bukhari had asked the district coordination officer, who is also the controller-general of prices, to direct the Enterprise and Investment Promotion department to revise the rice prices at once and issue lists for display in retail markets.

According to a list provided by the minister to the DCO, basmati rice rate has fallen to Rs55 from Rs70 per kg followed by Irri rice to Rs34 from Rs41 and super kernal basmati to Rs80-90 per kg from Rs113.

Till Sept 24, there was no new price list available in the markets. When Shoaib Bukhari was contacted, he said E&IP officials had told him that the list would be printed on Wednesday. “I have done my job and the rest of the responsibility lies with the E&IP,” he added.

Meanwhile, a city government official said the revised price list was being printed and might be available at retail markets on Thursday.