Muzaffarnagar jaggery traders losing Rs 2cr/day amid curfew

NEW DELHI: Jaggery (gur) traders in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar are losing business to the tune of about Rs 2 crore per day due to closure of Asia's biggest wholesale market for the sweetener in the wake of curfew imposed in the city.

Traders are stuck with the stock of about 2 lakh quintals of jaggery that they need to dispose off by end of this month as new season will begin from October.

"We are losing around Rs 2 crore per day since Friday as the markets have been closed because of curfew," Federation of Gur Traders President Arun Khandelwal told PTI, when asked about the impact of riots in the city.

There are around 200 traders in the Muzaffarnagar, the major sugarcane belt in Uttar Pradesh, and they sell about 8,000 quintals of jaggery everyday.

When asked about the impact on supply and prices, Khandelwal said: "Jaggery from the city is supplied to whole of North and West India. After the closure of markets the supply has completely stopped."

He noted that prices of jaggery are also likely to surge by 10-15 per cent in coming days.

"So far the retail prices have not gone up as there was enough stock in the market but in the coming days prices are expected to rise by 10 to 15 per cent," Khandelwal added.

Uttar Pradesh is the second largest producer of sugar in the country and till April this year, the state has produced 74.3 lakh tonnes of sugar.