Amid concerns over rising prices, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said tomatoes will be sold at Rs 70 per kg in Delhi-NCR this weekend and will cover all nooks and corners of the city. She said the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF) will conduct the mega-sale of tomatoes in Delhi-NCR at a subsidised rate this weekend.
'Tomatoes are being procured from several states for distribution'
Sitharaman said tomatoes are being procured from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, for distribution through cooperative societies like National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED). "Procuring of tomatoes from tomato growing regions of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and also Karnataka and distribution of these through cooperative societies like NCCF, NAFED are all happening," she said.
The Finance Minister said that approach has been launched in Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan. Additionally, in Delhi, mobile vans are distributing as outlets of NCCF and NAFED and also the Kendriya Bhandar.
'India has initiated tomato imports from Nepal'
She said that the India has initiated tomato imports from Nepal by lifting import restrictions and the first lot of tomatoes from Nepal are likely to reach Varanasi, Kanpur by Friday itself.
"As on date, NCCF has distributed 8,84,612 kgs of tomatoes in Rajasthan, Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh and this will continue in the coming days and this will be increased also...Already the prices of tomatoes in the wholesale mandis in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have started coming down below Rs 100 and we expect this to help us. As of today, we have booked tomatoes through Kolar mandi - coming to Delhi at Rs 85/kg...We have also initiated imports from Nepal by removing the import restrictions and the first lot of tomatoes from Nepal are likely to reach Varanasi, Kanpur by Friday itself," she added.
Tomato prices likely to touch Rs 300 per kg
It is worth mentioning that tomato prices experienced a sudden surge last month and its prices are likely to touch Rs 300 per kilogram in the coming days. Tomato is currently are being sold between Rs 100 and Rs 200 across the country.
Tomato prices have been under pressure for more than a month now on account of supply disruptions caused due to heavy rainfall in the key producing regions.
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