MUMBAI: What’s Diwali without sweets? And what’s kaju katli or gulab jamun without its silver varakh (foil)? Ahead of Diwali, many sweet shops are facing a shortage of the varakh as silver price has been soaring, touching Rs 1.9 lakh a kg in the spot market Tuesday.It’s a bittersweet moment for shops as it comes amid cheer over reduction in GST on sweets to 5%. While not all shops can shell out huge money to buy the varakh, most are trying not to pass on the price hike to consumers.Mumbai’s Parsi Dairy Farm has decided not to increase the price of sweets though the cost of the varakh it buys has shot up 10-15%, said its MD Bakhtyar K Irani. To tackle the situation, Delhi’s Khoya Mithai is, in some cases, reworking design to reduce usage of silver, said its founder Sid Mathur.The price of a silver varakh has gone up to Rs 8 from Rs 5 last Diwali, said Shivam Bhagat, owner at Agra’s over two-century-old Bhagat Halwai. “While the GST cuts are a positive move, fluctuations in prices of commodities are hurting businesses,” he added.