Tea, one can safely assume, is the common man's drink in these days of cappuccinos, mochas and frappe. But brewing a cup of this beverage is fast becoming a costly proposition.
Prices of two key ingredients -- tea and milk -- have gone up by up to 30 per cent and 22 per cent respectively in the last one year in almost all major cities.
Even relatively stable sugar prices, which stood in the range of Rs 14-20 a kg for the last one year, have done nothing to help the cause of tea lovers.
The wholesale price-based inflation data released on Friday showed that prices of tea have gone up by three per cent and milk by one per cent for the week ended June 14.
According to the data maintained by the consumer affairs ministry of 17 major cities in the country, including the four metros, retail prices of tea (loose) have shot up by the maximum 30 per cent in Ahmedabad to Rs 130 a kg as on June 18, 2008 against Rs 100 a kg a year-ago.
Milk prices rose highest in Guwahati by over 22 per cent to Rs 22 from Rs 18 a litre in the review period.
Apart from the four metros, the other 13 cities monitored by the government are Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizwal, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Patna, Shillong, Shimla and Thiruvananthapuram.
Barring Agartala, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Lucknow where tea prices either remained stable or declined, the prices rose at all centres in the range of 3-30 per cent.
Tea prices inched up to Rs 200 from Rs 170 a kg in Shillong, while in Chennai, prices soared to Rs 240 from Rs 210 a kg. Rising trend was seen in Guwahati where tea became costlier by Rs 10 and is available at Rs 85 a kg.
Delhi, the national capital, saw tea prices rising to Rs 119 from Rs 106 a kg, while in Mumbai the rates have gone up marginally at Rs 144 from Rs 140
a kg.
Tea prices in Aizwal and Bhopal went up to Rs 120 from Rs 110 a kg. In Bhubaneswar and Patna, the prices rose by 8 per cent to Rs 130 against 120 a kg.
In Shimla and Thiruvanathapuram, tea prices rose by Rs 5 and Rs 6 a kg respectively. In Shimla, tea is available at Rs 105 while tea costs Rs 158 a kg in Thiruvanathapuram.
Interestingly, tea prices have declined in Bangalore by 14 per cent at Rs 190 against Rs 220 per kg a year ago.
In Agartala, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Lucknow, tea prices remained stable. Tea is available at Rs 100 a kg in Agartala and Kolkata, while in Hyderabad and Lucknow, it costs Rs 120 and Rs 180 a kg respectively.
In sync with the rising trend of tea, milk prices, too, spiralled in the range of 9-22 per cent except in Aizwal, Hyderabad and Shillong where the rates have remained stable.
Milk prices in Thiruvananthapuram shot up by 19 per cent to Rs 19 from Rs 16 a litre while Bhubaneswar saw the prices soaring to Rs 20 from Rs 17.
Among metros, Chennai tops chart with a 16 per cent rise to Rs 18 from Rs 15.50 a litre, followed by Delhi and Mumbai where the prices have gone up to Rs 20 from Rs 18 a litre while in Kolkata, the prices inched up marginally to Rs 28 from Rs 27 a litre.
In the northern region, both Lucknow and Shimla witnessed a rise of Rs 2 a litre each and is currently available at Rs 24 and Rs 18, respectively.
While in Ahmedabad, milk became dearer by 16 per cent to Rs 22 from Rs 19 a litre, in Bhopal, its prices rose to Rs 22 from Rs 20 a litre.
Prices in Bangalore and Patna, too, went up by Rs 2 each to Rs 16 and Rs 18 respectively. The data for Agartala are not available.