The Centre on Wednesday announced a further reduction in the price of subsidised tomatoes in an effort to reduce the burden of high retail prices on the common man. Starting from Thursday, the price of subsidised tomatoes will be reduced from Rs 80 per kilogram to Rs 70 per kilogram.
As of now, the government is making tomatoes available at the subsidised rate of Rs 80 per kilogram in Delhi-NCR and other major cities through the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).
“The Department of Consumer Affairs has directed NCCF and NAFED to sell tomatoes at the retail price of Rs 70 per kg rate from July 20, 2023, in view of the declining trend in tomato prices. The tomatoes procured by NCCF and NAFED had been retailed, initially, at Rs.90 per kg and then reduced to Rs 80 per kg from July 16, 2023. The reduction to Rs 70 per kg will further benefit the consumers,” the government said in a statement.
While the average retail prices of tomatoes across India are currently around Rs 120 per kilogram, the prices have reached as high as Rs 245 per kilogram in certain areas. However, in the national capital, the rates have decreased to Rs 120 per kilogram.
As per the government’s directions, the NCCF and the NAFED started procuring tomatoes from wholesale markets in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. These tomatoes are then distributed in major consumption centres where retail prices have seen significant increases in the past month.
“The retail sale of tomatoes in Delhi-NCR started on July 14, 2023. Till July 18, 2023, a total of 391 tonnes of tomato had been procured by the two agencies which are being continuously disposed of to the retail consumers in major consumption centres of Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” the statement said.
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According to data from the Department of Consumer Affairs, the average retail price of tomatoes in India on Wednesday was Rs 119.29 per kg. The maximum retail price reached Rs 245 per kg, while the minimum was Rs 40 per kg, and the modal price stood at Rs 120 per kg.
In the national capital, tomato prices have dropped to an average of Rs 120 per kg on Thursday, compared to Rs 178 per kg on Sunday. In other major cities, tomatoes were being sold at Rs 155 per kg in Mumbai, Rs 132 per kg in Chennai, and Rs 143 per kg in Kolkata.
Tomato prices typically rise during the lean production months of July-August and October-November. The monsoon-induced supply disruption has caused a significant surge in tomato rates.