India: Eat now, pay later; trader offers mangoes on EMI

With the prices of Alphonso mangoes eye-wateringly high, a trader in India's Pune city is offering the king of fruits on Equated Monthly Instalments or EMI.

If refrigerators and air-conditioners can be purchased on instalments, why not mangoes, reasons Gaurav Sanas of Gurukripa Traders and Fruit Products.

Alphonso or `Hapus' mangoes from Devgad and Ratnagiri, considered to be the best, are currently being sold at Rs800 to Rs1,300 (Dh36 to Dh58) per dozen in the retail market.

Sanas claimed that his family's outlet is the first to sell mangoes on EMI in the whole country.

"The prices are always very high at the start of the season. We thought if refrigerators, ACs and other appliances can be bought on EMI, why not mangoes? Everyone can afford mangoes then," he said.

The procedure for buying the fruit at his outlet on EMI is similar to buying mobile phones on instalments. The customer needs to use a credit card and the purchase amount is converted into EMIs of three, six or 12 months.

But the scheme is available for a minimum purchase of Rs5,000.

Four consumers have availed of the scheme so far, Sanas said.

• Offbeat
• India