Rising silver prices add a bitter twist to festive sweets

What’s Diwali without sweets — and what’s kaju katli or gulab jamun without the silver foil that adorns them? As the festive season nears, many sweet shops are struggling with a shortage of silver varakh due to soaring prices, which touched Rs 1.9 lakh per kg in the spot market on Tuesday.

The situation is mixed for sweet makers — the silver shortage comes even as the GST on sweets has been reduced to 5%. While not every shop can afford the expensive varakh, most are choosing not to pass the higher costs on to customers.

Mumbai’s Parsi Dairy Farm has decided not to increase the price of sweets though the cost of the varakh it buys has shot up 10-15%, said its MD Bakhtyar K Irani. To tackle the situation, Delhi’s Khoya Mithai is, in some cases, reworking design to reduce usage of silver, said its founder Sid Mathur.

The price of a silver varakh has gone up to Rs 8 from Rs 5 last Diwali, said Shivam Bhagat, owner at Agra’s over two-century-old Bhagat Halwai. “While the GST cuts are a positive move, fluctuations in prices of commodities are hurting businesses,” he added.

(With TOI inputs)