Naan to cost Rs20 if flour prices not reduced, tandoor-owners warn

LAHORE: A local tandoor-owners' group has warned to raise the prices of naans and rotis — bread cooked on stove — to Rs20 and Rs 12, respectively, if the cost of flour was not reduced, they said after a meeting here on Wednesday.

The United Naan Roti Association expressed serious concern over the rising prices of flour and fine flour, demanding that the prices be cut down from Rs3,700 and Rs4,700 per bag to Rs2,800 and Rs3,500 per bag, respectively.

The tandoor-owners said they were economically paralysed due to the ongoing inflation in the country. The government needed to take strict action against flour-mill owners who keep bumping up the prices.

The United Naan Roti Association said they were being forced to hike up the prices of naans and rotis. However, if the flour bag costs were not brought down, the prices of naans and rotis would be jacked up to Rs20 and Rs 12, respectively, in Punjab, Islamabad, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they added.

The tandoor-owners also threatened to carry out a shutter-down strike if the government attempted a crackdown on them and added that would call a protest at Islamabad's notorious demonstration site, D-Chowk.