The Times of India reported that very soon, a single egg could cost Rs 5, up from Rs 4.30 that it cost on Monday, industry sources said.

At the farm level, egg prices rose to Rs 392 per 100 eggs as the poultry industry suffers from an acute shortage of birds.

The severe heat wave has killed more than 5 million (50 lakh) chickens across Telangana this summer.

"When heat wave condition left more than 50 lakh birds dead, decrease in egg production is natural. From 3 crore (30 million) eggs a day, the daily production has come down to 2.70 crore (27 million)," said Sanjeev Chintawar, business manager, National Egg Coordination Committee, Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, officers from the Telangana State Poultry Federation (TSPF), representing about 15,000 poultry farmers in the state, are desperately seeking a moratorium on loan advances worth Rs 20 billion that their members took from banks last year.

"The poultry industry has lost heavily due to the bird flu scare and heat wave deaths.

"If banks do not announce moratorium ranging from one to two years on our loans, over 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the farms might be forced to close down, leading to loss of livelihood for thousands of farmers," said Errabelli Pradeep Rao, president of TSPF, adding that only state-owned Andhra Bank has come forward to help the farmers so far.