Potato traders of West Bengal on Wednesday said that they failed to understand the reason for the rising prices of the product, when adequate stock is available in cold storages of the state and the Centre has allowed licence-free import of the tuber from Bhutan.
In the retail markets of Kolkata, the price of the mass variety, 'Jyoti', has surpassed Rs 40 a kilogram while the 'Chandramukhi' variety is sold at Rs 45 a kg.
Such a rise was last witnessed in the state over a decade ago, traders said.
A West Bengal Cold Storage Association office bearer said that 26-27 per cent of the total capacity of 59 lakh tonnes of potatoes is available.
"The stock level is normal as it was in previous years, and there is no reason for any crisis. We are unable to comprehend the reason behind the price rise," he said.
Various reasons such as export to other states, large corporate buying and hoarding were being floated, another cold storage official said.
"The central government has allowed import of potatoes without license from Bhutan and some 30,000 tonne is expected to arrive soon," a trader said.
Partially relaxing the import norms, the government on October 30 permitted import of potatoes from the Himalayan country without licence up to January 31 next year, a move aimed at boosting domestic supply and control prices of the commodity.
The Centre has set stock limits for retailers and wholesalers but the measure had little impact.
