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Retail chicken outlets in Kerala have stopped operations from Thursday in protest against the state's decision to hike the base price of chicken from Rs 70 to Rs 95. After this, the per kg sales tax now stands at Rs 14 from the earlier Rs 9. Chicken outlet owners said sales would be completely on a standstill once the existing stock gets sold out.
They have decided not to stock chicken till the government withdraws the decision. Even the supply from other states like Tamil Nadu has now been stopped, say owners. Kerala consumes 240,000 tonnes of poultry meat every year, with a market size of around Rs 4,000 crore. The domestic production stands at just 90,000 tonne and a major chunk of the rest comes from the neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
