From ghee masala dosa to Mysore pak, Bengaluru’s favourite foods set to cost more

Following the increase in the prices of ghee, butter and paneer, hotel associations and sweet shops will also be increasing the prices of sweets and food items in which ghee, butter and paneer are used.

Veerendra Kamat, secretary, Bangalore Hotels Association, said, “Ghee, butter and paneer prices were increased a day ago. Before that, milk and curd prices had increased. Hence, tea and coffee prices in all hotels across the city, from small to big ones, have increased by ₹3 to ₹5. Now prices of items like ghee masala dosa, kesari bath, upma, pongal, ghee rice, bisibele bath, rotis, naans, parottas and sweets like halwa will also be increased.”

Mr. Kamat added, “An average price of ghee masala dosa is ₹120 to ₹130 across most of the hotels, which will be increased up to ₹125 to ₹135. Some premium hotels charge up to ₹200 also. Other items like kesari bath, ghee rice, pongal and bisibele bath will also be increased by ₹5. We cannot increase these prices beyond ₹5 because customers will stop coming and the entire business will be impacted.”

He also clarified that the association cannot set a standard price for all the hotels. “Hoteliers price the dishes as per the location of the hotel, customer footfall, scale of business, and profit and loss, which is calculated at the end of every month,” he added.

Sweets to also cost dear

Meanwhile, Madhu Iyengar, general secretary, Karnataka Bakeries, Sweets and Cafe Association (KBSCA), said, “When prices of milk and curds had increased, we thought to continue selling sweets on the same scale or price.But the ghee price hike has impacted our budgets too. Since it is the festival season, where we aim to make good business, we have not increased prices of any sweet where milk and ghee are used. However, we will increase the price probably in December during the off-season by 3% to 5%.”

Arjun P., a manager working at a famous sweet outlet that has branches across the city, said, “In our shop, special Mysore Pak made using ghee is priced at ₹473 for 500 grams, and Kaju Katli at ₹700 for 500 grams. Mango barfi and doodh pedha are probably the lowest, priced around ₹419 for 500 grams. Kesar peda is priced at ₹473 for 500 grams. When the prices are hiked in December or during New Year, all these will be increased by ₹5 to ₹10.”

Households feel the pinch

Apart from hotels and sweet shops, households have also felt the heat of the price rise, especially during Deepavali. Prathiba Reddy, a resident of Ramamurthy Nagar, said, “People are yet to recover from the milk and curd price hike, and the government has gone ahead to increase ghee, paneer and butter prices. During the festival, I use ghee for most of the items, either to fry or mix it with maida and wheat flour for making snacks and sweets. A one-litre sachet of Nandini ghee has gone up by almost ₹135.”

Expressing disappointment over the price hike of essential commodities, Manjunath M., a gig worker, said, “Festivals are not for poor people like us who earn less than ₹20,000 a month and have five people in a family to look after. The milk and ghee price hike have impacted a working-class person like me.”