Due to monsoon rains and the lean season, tomato prices in retail marketplaces on Saturday remained high, ranging up to Rs 250 per kilogram throughout major cities.
Government statistics show that the average price for the whole country of India was close to Rs 117 per kilogram.
To help retail customers, the Center is selling tomatoes in a few areas including Delhi-NCR, Patna, and Lucknow for a reduced Rs 90 per kilogram.
On behalf of the Center, tomatoes are being sold via mobile vans by the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).
Sale of tomatoes at reduced prices began today in Lucknow, Patna, and Muzaffarpur, as well as other areas of Delhi and Noida, according to a tweet from Union Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh.
Beginning on Sunday, NCCF intends to sell tomatoes at one hundred or so Kendriya Bhandar locations in the city. To offer tomatoes via its 400 Safal retail locations in Delhi-NCR, it is in negotiations with Mother Dairy.
According to statistics gathered by the Department of Consumer Affairs, tomatoes were selling for an average retail price of Rs. 116.86 per kg throughout all of India on Saturday. The highest price was Rs. 250 per kg, and the lowest price was Rs. 25 per kg. Tomatoes are priced at Rs 100 per kilogram on average.
Tomatoes were the most popular produce in metro areas, costing Rs 178 per kg in Delhi, Rs 150 per kg in Mumbai, and Rs 132 per kg in Chennai.
Hapur has the highest per-kg cost at Rs 250.
The months of July through August and October through November, which are typically months of low output, are when tomato prices often soar.
The monsoon’s impact on supply has produced a dramatic increase in prices.