Gov’t cuts price of subsidised tomato to ₹70 per kg

Union Govt reduces subsidised tomato prices to ₹70/kg from ₹80/kg to provide relief to consumers. All-India avg. retail price is ₹119.29/kg, max. ₹245/kg, min. ₹40/kg.

The Union Government has reduced prices of subsidised tomatoes to ₹70 per kilogramme from Thursday from ₹80 per kg now to provide relief to common man from high retail prices.

The Centre is selling tomatoes to people at a subsidised rate of ₹80 a kg in Delhi-NCR and some other key cities through the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).

The all-India average retail prices of tomatoes is ruling at nearly ₹120 per kg, although the key kitchen item is selling as high as ₹245 per kg at some places. In the national capital, the rate has come down to ₹120 per kg.

“The Department of Consumer Affairs has directed NCCF and NAFED to sell tomatoes at retail price of ₹70 per kg rate from July 20, 2023 in view of the declining trend in tomato prices,” an official statement said.

The tomatoes procured by NCCF and NAFED had been retailed, initially, at ₹90 per kg and then reduced to ₹80 per kg from July 16 2023, it added.

“The reduction to ₹70 per kg will further benefit the consumers,” the statement said.

On the government’s direction, NCCF and NAFED had commenced the procurement of tomato from mandis in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra for simultaneous disposal in major consumption centres where retails prices have recorded maximum increase in last one month.