24 October,2012 08:10 AM IST | | Sukirt D.Gumaste
Traders say that customers from as far as Mumbai are coming to the city to purchase goats and sheeps to celebrate the auspicious day.u00a0Trader Masoor Khan said he sold three goats for over Rs 1.5 lakh each to three different customers from Mumbai, mostly businessman.
A whopper: Masoor Khan (right) sold White tiger for Rs 1.10 lakh to businessman Yasar Kazi at Bhawani Peth yesterday. Pic/Krunal Gosavi
Khan said Mumbaikars were mainly coming to the city to buy goats due to quality and value for money. Some traders complain that profit had dropped as prices of goats sold this year were almost half in comparison to the money they fetched last year.
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A trader said last year the average range was between Rs 10,000 to 60,000, but this year the upper limit was Rs 30,000.u00a0Rubbishing the claims that profits had dipped, Khan said, "The drop in prices has nothing to do with factors such as rising fuel and fodder prices. It's due to unavailability of good-looking goats in the market."
He said the animal's height and looks governs its price. Khan added it was not only customers from Mumbai who were purchasing heavily-priced goats; even city businessmen were dropping huge amounts.
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"A businessman purchased a goat named White Tiger for a whopping Rs 1.10 lakh from me. I had nurtured it since it was a kid. Today, the goat is around four-feet-tall," he said.
Traders at Laxmi Market said this year the average price of goat is Rs 10,000. Abhijit Ghone, who has been in the business for the past 25 years, said, "Goats are brought to Pune from places like Kopargaon, Shirdi, Khamgaon and Akola. The traders in those cities bring them from states like Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Jamnapari from Etwah in Uttar Pradesh is the most popular breed."
Kopargaon-based goat supplier Shakil Mohammed Shaikh said this year he supplied 250 goats at an average price of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 each. Shaikh said, "Pitch black and white goats are in great demand." Sangram Jambhale, a trader from Lonavala, claimed that while some customers preferred Khassi, others chose Undu breed and the prices were solely based on the animal's looks. Jambhale said, "Majority of traders bring goats from MP."
