KARACHI: As flour millers in Sindh and provincial food minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar continue to trade barbs, consumers in Karachi are forced to pay higher prices for all flour varieties as compared to other cities in the country.

In Karachi, supreme quality fine flour now sells at Rs470-490 as compared to Rs450-460 per 10 kg bag last month while chakki flour is now available at Rs50-52 per kg as compared to Rs47-48 per kg last month. Flour No. 2.5 is also costlier at Rs45-46 as compared to Rs44 per kg last month.

In sharp contrast, people living in Lahore are purchasing flour at Rs780-800 per 20 kg bag while in Islamabad the rate of 20 kg flour hovers between Rs830-910 depending on the quality. The rate of flour in Islamabad had risen by Rs20-30 per 20 kg bag in the last one month.

On Monday, flour millers in Sindh deferred the strike call till December 13 and decided to hold talks with the Sindh food minister to settle all differences amicably.

Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) Sindh Zone, in its general body meeting on Monday, presented five demands.

These included stoppage of raids on flour mills by the government. The millers also sought 200,000 tonnes of wheat for Karachi flour mills every month against 78,000 tonnes to enable them to supply flour at rates fixed by the government. The millers said that it was hard to sell flour at control rate of Rs39.50 per kg after lifting costly wheat from the open market.

The government should resume wheat quota that was suspended to several mills, PFMA said, urging the government to take back the notices sent to 27 mills seeking differential cost of Rs650 per wheat bag which got wheat in March 2013 from the Food Department.

The Association said that millers are being forced to lift 100,000 sub-standard and infected bags of wheat which are not fit for human consumption.

It said that Punjab and KPK government had issued tenders for sale of sub-standard wheat for consumption for animals and this wheat had found way into the Sindh Food Department godowns. Besides, effort is being made to consume poor quality of 2008 crop wheat through flour mills.

Imported wheat, which was available at Rs3,425-3,450 in September, now sells at Rs3,750-3,900 per 100 kg bag while local wheat price hovers between Rs3,925-4,000 now as compared to Rs3,500-3,560 in September. Millers have been spiking the flour rates due to increase in wheat price (imported and local).

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of Sindh Food Department on Sunday rejected flour millers’ allegation and said that millers were not being forced to purchase damaged wheat.

In a statement, the spokesman advised the flour mills that instead of hurling baseless allegations they should stop overcharging the people immediately and honour their commitment to sell wheat flour at the government fixed prices.

Strict action would be taken against profiteers and hoarders of wheat, the statement added.

The spokesman said the food department had fixed wheat flour rates with mutual understanding of flour mills association in the meeting, but the association backed out from its commitment and started fleecing people by overcharging without any justification. The rate of 10kg bag was fixed at Rs395 in the meeting, but now the same is selling at Rs425 in violation of the commitment.

All flour mills were being provided with their agreed quota of wheat from the government stock and as such the sale of flour at increased rates would not be tolerated, he added.