Government Slashes Tomato Prices To Rs 70/kg, Offering Relief To Consumers From Soaring Retail Costs

The government has taken a significant step by cutting the price of subsidised tomatoes to Rs 70/kg, PTI reported.

It will go into effect on Thursday to help the average person who is suffering from excessive retail costs.

Tomatoes are being sold by the federal government at discounted prices as of last Friday. Government-sponsored sales are being conducted by the cooperatives Nafed and NCCF.

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

The tomatoes that NCCF and NAFED purchased were initially sold at retail for Rs 90 per kg before being marked down to Rs 80 per kg as of July 16, 2023

The price cut to Rs 70/kg will further benefit customers, according to the statement.
On the instruction of the Department of Consumer Affairs, NCCF and NAFED began purchasing tomatoes from mandis in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra for simultaneous distribution in key consumption centres where retail prices had experienced the greatest growth in the previous month.

Tomatoes were first sold at retail in Delhi-NCR on July 14, 2023. A total of 391 tonnes of tomatoes were purchased by the two agencies up till July 18th, 2023, and they are continuously being distributed to retail customers in important consumption areas in Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, according to the statement.