Nagpur: Prices of school study material have gone up significantly on account of rise in cost of raw material and paper production.From books to bags, uniform to van/bus… cost of everything has gone up and will pinch the parents next month as the shopping spree starts. The rise, about 60 percent, has taken place over the past six months.
According to sources, as the schools reopen from the second week of June, parents have geared up and arranging finances to purchase school material from this month itself. From this academic session, the schools would reopen with full capacity for which advance purchase of school study material has become necessary.
According to reports, book sellers informed that this year, the prices of notebooks have spiked by about 50 percent. The register, which was sold for Rs 40 last year, is now available for Rs 60-65 depending on the quality of paper. The most important raw material — paper — is now 40% expensive as compared to last year. Paper mills cite shortage of recyclable waste for this problem, said a book seller, adding then add the cost of transportation to it. “Cost of production is up and so is the cost of transportation. These hikes will be passed on in the final product,” he said.
Other stationery items like pen, pencil etc too will see price hikes. School uniforms too will weigh in on parents’ purse strings this year. According to a trader, cloth material cost has increased by 50% and this raw material is not available on credit any more. Apart from this, labour costs have gone up in addition to transportation, he added.
Transportation costs will make it worse. The school van/bus operators are likely to hike charges considerably to counter the increase in fuel costs. Majority of the schools have increased their fees by 15%, as they look to get their staffing levels back to pre-pandemic level.
