Prices of tomatoes, as well as other vegetables, have soared tremendously in several parts of the country including in Telangana's state capital Hyderabad where the shopkeepers expressed despair as they were facing difficulties in selling tomatoes which have crossed the Rs 100 mark. According to a vegetable seller, tomatoes were sold at Rs 120 per kg whereas green chillies at Rs 100-120/kg. They opined that people were avoiding tomatoes and other vegetables as the prices have soared significantly in the past few days.
"The prices of vegetables have increased in the last few days which is affecting our business. The price of tomatoes is Rs 120/kg, and green chillies are Rs 100-120/kg. Due to the price hike, people are not purchasing vegetables," Abdul Wajid, a fruit and vegetable seller told news agency ANI on Saturday.
Prices will cool down in the next 15 days: Govt
Meanwhile, the government asserted that the spurt in the prices of tomatoes is a temporary seasonal phenomenon, and rates will cool down soon. "It is a highly perishable commodity. Transportation gets affected in areas that received sudden rains. It is a temporary issue. Prices will cool down soon. It happens every year during this time," Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told PTI.
Stating that there is a seasonality in tomatoes, he said the data on tomato prices of the last five years shows that the rates have risen every year at this time. From Himachal Pradesh, the supply to Delhi will start coming in the next ten days and prices will soften. According to the data maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs, the average price of tomato on an all-India basis is Rs 46 per kg on June 27.
The modal price is Rs 50 per kg while the maximum price is Rs 122 per kg.
Delhi-NCR also facing the same price rise
Across four metros, the retail price of tomato in Delhi is Rs 60 per kg, Mumbai is Rs 42 per kg, Kolkata is Rs 75 per kg and Chennai is Rs 67 per kg. Among other major cities, the prices stood at Rs 52 per kg in Bengaluru, Rs 80 per kg in Jammu, Rs 60 per kg in Lucknow, Rs 88 per kg in Shimla, Rs 100 per kg in Bhubaneshwar and Rs 99 per kg in Raipur. The maximum price of Rs 122 per kg has been reported from Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Bellary (Karnataka), as per the department data.
In the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), tomato prices at Mother Dairy's Safal stores have doubled to nearly Rs 80 per kg in the last one week as supplies have been affected due to rains in key producing states.
The best quality tomatoes at Mother Dairy's Safal retail stores are being sold at Rs 78 per kg on Tuesday. Some varieties are available at lower rates also. There are more than 300 Safal stores in the Delhi-NCR market.
(With inputs from agencies)
