Tomato prices continue to soar; crosses Rs 160 per kg in some parts of India

Tomato prices have been on a rise across the country and it looks like there is no respite from it anytime soon. On Thursday, the retail prices of the kitchen staple soared up to Rs 162 per kg across the country due to tight supplies caused by rainfall in many parts.

Speaking specially from the perspective of metros, retail tomato prices remained highest at Rs 152 per kg in Kolkata, followed by Rs 120 per kg in Delhi, Rs 117 per kg in Chennai and Rs 108 per kg in Mumbai, according to the data maintained by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, news agency PTI reported.

The all-India average retail tomato price was ruling at Rs 95.58 per kg on Thursday. The data further showed that a maximum rate of Rs 162 per kg was quoted in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, while the minimum rate was Rs 31 per kg in Churu district of Rajasthan.

In Gurugram, retail tomato price was ruling at Rs 140 per kg, in Bengaluru at Rs 110 per kg, Rs 107 per kg in Varanasi, Rs 98 per kg in Hyderabad and at Rs 90 in Bhopal on Thursday.

Tomato prices usually spike during July-August time of the year as harvesting and transportation of highly perishable commodity supplies get affected due to monsoon.

Meanwhile, amid the rising prices, an incident has been reported in Belur, Karnataka, where thieves made away with tomatoes worth Rs 2.7 lakh right from a farm. According to the tomato farmer in Belur, the thieves decamped with the tomatoes on Tuesday night.

"We had sown tomatoes in two acres but we got nothing. Tomatoes used to grow but they never ripened. This time they grew but day-before-yesterday, someone stole them," Parvathamma told PTI.

Separately, 20 kg of tomatoes was allegedly stolen from a shop in Mahabubabad district in Telangana, police said on Thursday. The vegetable vendor said tomato weighing 20 kgs and four other vegetables weighing about 35 kg kept in two boxes in his shop were taken away by unidentified persons.

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