Tomato Prices Update: Cooperatives NCCF and NAFED will start selling tomatoes at a discounted rate of Rs 40 per kilogram from tomorrow, August 20, amid the continued decline price of the kitchen staple in wholesale and retail markets.
Since last month, the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) have been selling tomatoes at a discounted rate on behalf of the Consumer Affairs Ministry to contain the price rise.
Initially, the subsidised rate was fixed at Rs 90 per kilogram, which had been successively reduced in line with the decline in prices in order to ensure benefits to the consumers.
“The last downward revision of the retail price to Rs 50 per kg was on August 15, which now stands further reduced to Rs 40 per kg w.e.f. August 20,” an official statement said on Friday.
The retail sale of tomatoes in Delhi-NCR at subsidy had started from July 14, 2023. Till date, over 15 lakh kilogram of tomatoes have been procured by the two agencies and are being sold to retail consumers in major consumption centres in the country, it said.
These locations include Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan (Jaipur, Kota), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj) and Bihar (Patna, Muzaffarpur, Arrah, Buxar).
On the direction of Department of Consumer Affairs, 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 the last one month.
Last month, RBI in its Bulletin- July 2023 had said tomato, being a highly perishable item with a very short crop duration, exhibits considerable seasonal variation in prices but these episodes are short-lived.
“Multiple crop cycles with varying time span across locations lead to more than one spell of price spike within the same year. While the yearly peaks have exhibited a general increase, the troughs have remained largely constant, indicating that prices do not ratchet up across spells,” it said.
Recently, the retail price of tomatoes rose sharply and touched as high as Rs 250 per kg across major cities due to the lean season plus heavy rains. Seeking to provide relief to consumers from skyrocketing tomato prices, the central government is selling tomatoes in various parts of the country at a discounted rate of Rs 90 per kg.
According to the latest official data, India’s retail inflation jumped to 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July on account of costlier food items. In its report, Acuité Ratings & Research said, “Although tomato prices have begun to correct, CPI inflation in Aug-23 may continue to remain above 7 per cent.”
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