The Centre announces that the prices of subsidised tomato were reduced from Rs 90/kg to Rs 80/kg with immediate effect in Delhi-NCR, other cities on Sunday. The Central government has been making efforts to provide relief to people from high prices of the key kitchen item in retail markets.
"There has been a decrease in the wholesale prices of tomatoes due to the intervention of the government to sell it at a concessional rate of Rs 90 per kg, at several locations in the country where the prices were ruling exceptionally high," an official statement said.
The Centre started to sell tomatoes at a discounted rate of Rs 90 per kg in Delhi-NCR through mobile vans on Friday. More cities were added to the list of where the Centre begal selling subsidised tomato on Saturday.
"After a re-assessment of the situation from across 500 plus points in the country, it has been decided to sell it at Rs 80 per kg from today, Sunday, July 16th, 2023," it added.
Delhi, Noida, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Patna, Muzaffarpur and Arrah have been the top cities where tomatoes are being sold through cooperatives NAFED and NCCF.
Tomatoes are being procured from Madanapalli (Andhra Pradesh), Kolar (Karnataka) and Sanganeri (Maharashtra) NCCF has already sold 35,000 kg of tomatoes in the last two days, said NCCF Managing Director Anice Joseph Chandra.
It expects to sell 20,000 kg in Delhi-NCR on Sunday, 15,000 kg in Varanasi, 10,000 kg each in Lucknow and Kanpur, she said.
NCCF sold about 7,000 kg in Lucknow on Saturday and this itself helped to bring down the wholesale rate from Rs 130 per kg to 115 per kg, she noted.
Tomato prices cross Rs 250/kg amid rains
The prices of tomato in retail markets on Sunday remained on rage as they crossed 250 per kg-mark across major cities in the wake of monsoon rains and lean season.
According to government data, the all-India average price of tomato stood at nearly Rs 117 per kg. However, the Centre made efforts to provide relief to consumers. The government started selling tomato at a discounted Rs 90 per kg in select cities like Delhi-NCR, Patna and Lucknow.
(With PTI inputs)
Also read- Tomato prices continue to rise, cross Rs 250/kg amid rains
