Patna residents planning to take a pleasure trip abroad to escape the heat wave or buy a swanky laptop may have to shelve their plans for now because of the declining value of rupee against the dollar.

As of Friday, $1 was a little above Rs 55. There has been a slide of over six per cent in the value of Indian currency over the past six months. A weak rupee means you and I have to shell out more for products and services priced in dollars, even if their prices remain the same.

With the depreciation of rupee, people have started to put off their holiday plans abroad.

“We have observed a decline of around 20 per cent in the number of tourists opting for foreign tour packages,” said Shailesh Kumar, the chief executive of the city-based Nalanda Travels.

“My husband had planned to go to Canada for summer vacation but he has put the plan on hold. The travel agent also advised us to postpone our trip, as our expenditure would be more than our budget,” said Jagdeo Path resident Reema Shrivastava.

The devaluation of rupee has also hit the information technology (IT) market.

“The prices of computer systems as well as peripherals have gone up considerably,” said Amit Tiwari, a senior executive of a computer supply firm in Patna.

He said most IT products are manufactured in China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and United States of America. The consignments then reach Dubai and are sent to Singapore for pricing and final distribution.

“The price of branded computers have increased from Rs 3,000 to Rs 7,000 in the past few days. Assembled computers, too, have become dearer by around Rs 4,000,” Tiwari said.

Against this backdrop, many consumers have been forced to let go of their wish to buy a new computer.

Rajendra Nagar resident Dileep Kumar said: “I wanted to buy an assembled computer. But the dealer asked a price higher that what he had quoted a month ago. He told me that as most computer parts are manufactured abroad, their prices have gone up with the devaluation of rupee.”

Tourists and tech savvy people are not the only ones to be affected.

Students planning to go abroad for higher studies and patients who need imported life-saving drugs would also have to shell out more now.

Brijendra Kumar, the branch administrator of Target Counselling Services, told The Telegraph: “A few months ago, the dollar-rupee exchange rate was Rs 47-49. Now it has gone up to Rs 56. So students going to foreign countries for higher studies need to double check their budget.”

Though students are not shelving their plans to go abroad, they are reviewing their budgets for sure.

“I want to do my postgraduation from University of California, Berkeley. But my consultant said the value of dollar is very high at present. My father is also of the view that we would have to arrange for extra funds because of the forex conditions. We would take a final decision soon,” said Ravi Mishra, resident of Patliputra.

Healthcare in the city would also be affected by the free fall of the rupee.

“Prices of life-saving drugs imported from abroad for critical patients could also go up. There would also be a similar rise in the prices of new drugs, which are not manufactured in India,” said a senior officer of the drugs department.

Experts claim that even if the mandarins in the finance ministry can check the descent of the Indian currency, the prices would continue to remain high.

The state BJP’s trade and industry wing president and share broker Suresh Rungta told The Telegraph that the only sweet aspect of the quandary is the money that litchi exports from the state would fetch.

“A weak rupee means the litchi exports this year would fetch more money. Both the farmers and the traders would benefit from it,” he said.