Hyderabadi biryani may be more expensive due to the return of Taliban

Those who love biryani in Hyderabad are likely to lose out with Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. It is expected that the famed Hyderabadi biryani, prepared with dry fruits and a wide variety of spices, will soon become dearer. The Taliban have reportedly stopped the movement of cargo through Pakistan’s transit routes. Consequently, the price of dry fruits in India has gone up since it imports around 85 percent of it from war-torn Iraq. Hyderabadi Biryani prices could soon rise as price of dry fruits increase, according to a report by Frontline.

Due to the tense situation in Afghanistan, the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) expressed concern about dry fruit prices going through the roof soon. According to Dr. Ajay Sahai, Director General (DG) of the Federation of Indian Export Organization, we are keeping an eye on the developments in Afghanistan. Imports from Afghanistan are transported via Pakistan. Since the Taliban has stopped the movement of cargo to Pakistan, imports have virtually ceased. According to him, ‘if the trade doesn’t resume, prices of dry fruit will shoot up, and traders will also have to look for alternative sources of supply’.

In New Delhi’s Khadi Bawari, the largest dry fruit market, trader Gaurav Jaggi says prices of walnuts, apricots and almonds from Afghanistan have doubled or tripled in the past few days. ‘We are already seeing an impact on prices. Prices have steadily risen over the past few days. This is the harvesting season for many dry fruits, but with the supply chain slowed down, the fresh stock is unlikely to arrive soon,’ Jaggi said.

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Meanwhile, traders in Jammu said they suffered significant losses due to the rise in dry fruit prices. In addition, dry fruit sales dropped in the previous week. As a result of the ongoing uncertainty in Afghanistan, the price of dry fruits could increase further, according to Jyoti Gupta, the president of Jammu Dry Fruit Retail Traders’ Association. Jyoti Gupta said, ‘We suffered heavy losses during the lockdown. Now, the situation in Afghanistan has only made matters worse’.