Govt to further reduce tomato prices from August 15, to sell at Rs 50 per kg

The government on Monday directed the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) to sell tomatoes at a retail price of Rs 50 per kilogram starting from August 15. This measure is aimed to make tomatoes more affordable and accessible for the general public.

The move comes in response to the rising prices of tomatoes in the market. The price of tomatoes has been steadily increasing in recent weeks, and it is currently selling at around Rs 70 per kg in some parts of the country.

The retail sale of tomatoes started on July 14 in the National Capital Region and till August 13, a total of 15 lakh kilograms of the crop was procured by the two agencies, according to an official statement.

Initially, the retail price of tomatoes procured by NCCF and NAFED was fixed at Rs.90 per kg and later reduced to Rs.80 per kg from July 16 and then further to Rs 70 per kg from July 20. The latest reduction to Rs.50 per kg will further benefit the consumers.

Both NCCF and NAFED are key agricultural cooperatives in India playing significant roles in the agricultural supply chain. While NCCF is engaged in promoting consumer cooperatives and improving the quality of life of the consumers, NAFED aims at promoting cooperative marketing of agricultural produce to benefit the farmers.

Over the past few days, NCCF had substantially increased the quantity of tomato supplied to the retail consumers by stationing its mobile vans across 70 locations all over Delhi, and 15 locations in Noida and Greater Noida. In addition, NCCF is also continuously doing retail sale of tomato through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform.

Earlier, the  Department of Consumer Affairs has directed NCCF and NAFED to start the procurement of tomato from mandis in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra for simultaneous disposal in major consumption centres where retail prices have recorded maximum increase in the last one month.

On Sunday, the NCCF said it sold 71,500 kg of tomatoes at a subsidised rate in the national capital in the two-day mega sale held ahead of the Independence Day celebration. 

The mega sale was conducted in 70 different locations like Seelampur and R K Puram in Delhi, the cooperative said in a statement. Out of 71,500 kg of tomatoes, 36,500 kg were sold on August 12, while 35,000 kg on August 13, it added. Tomatoes were sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 70 per kg.

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