Patna: With Rakshabandhan approaching, sweet shops across Patna are seeing a surge in demand, but customers are likely to pay more this year as rising sugar prices and higher input costs have pushed up sweet prices.Sweet prices in the city have increased by around 5% to 20% ahead of the festival, according to traders. The hike has been attributed primarily to higher sugar prices, while rising costs of milk, ‘khoya’, dry fruits and other ingredients have added to the pressure on sweet makers.Ajit Singh, manager of a sweet shop on Arya Kumar Road, said the rising cost of raw materials was directly affecting sweet prices.“Making sweets requires a large amount of sugar. The rising price of raw materials is directly affecting the cost of sweets. The increase is not limited to sugar. Milk, ‘khoya’, dry fruits and other ingredients have also become expensive. We are trying to keep the increase as low as possible, but it is becoming difficult to maintain the earlier prices,” he said.Tarun Mankani, owner of a confectionery shop on New Dak Bungalow Road, said his shop had increased prices of sweets and baked items, including cakes and pastries, by around 5%.“We have increased the prices of all our sweets and baked items, including cakes and pastries, by 5% because the prices of sugar and other raw materials have gone up. The increase in input costs has made it difficult to maintain the earlier prices,” he said.The increase is visible across several varieties. Besan gajak has risen from Rs650 to Rs780 per kg, while ras kadam has increased from Rs640 to Rs780. Malai chamcham is now priced at Rs850 compared with Rs700 earlier, while ghevar has risen from Rs850 to Rs980 per kg.Santosh Kumar, owner of a sweet shop in Kadamkuan, said prices had been increased by Rs5-10 for different varieties of laddoos and chena-based sweets, Rs40-80 for sweets made with dry fruits, particularly almonds and other nuts, and Rs20-40 for khoya-based sweets.“The increase varies depending on the prices of sugar and other raw materials,” he said.However, some shopkeepers have decided not to immediately pass on the higher input costs to customers. Bachchu Mandal, manager of a sweet shop on Bailey Road, said his shop had not increased prices yet.“The prices of raw materials are increasing, but we have not increased the prices of sweets yet. We are taking a wait-and-watch approach. We will assess the situation after Rakshabandhan, and prices are likely to increase before Diwali if input costs continue to remain high,” he said.Customers said the price rise had added to their Raksha Bandhan expenses. “Sweets are an essential part of Raksha Bandhan, so we cannot avoid buying them. But with prices rising, we will have to reduce the quantity,” said Sumita Devi, a resident of Bankman Colony.Richa Pandey, a resident of Saguna More, said the festival budget had increased due to higher spending on sweets.“Rakhi itself comes with expenses for gifts and travel. With sweets also becoming costlier, the overall festival budget has increased,” she said.Despite the higher prices, sweet shop owners expect strong sales on Aug 27 and 28 as families make last-minute purchases for the festival. Traders said prices were likely to remain firm as long as input costs remained elevated.
