The government will start selling tomatoes at a subsidised rate of Rs 50 per kg from Friday in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai retail markets as against Rs 60 per kg now to provide relief to the common man.
On July 29, Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi launched tomato sales at a subsidised rate of Rs 60 per kg in Delhi-NCR. Later, the sales started in Mumbai also.
"Prices of tomatoes have come down after our intervention," Joshi told reporters here.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said, "We will start selling tomatoes at Rs 50 per kg from tomorrow (August 2) in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai," she told reporters.
The National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) is selling tomatoes through mobile vans.
According to the Department of Consumer Affairs data, the all-India average price of tomatoes stood at Rs 61.74 per kg on July 31. In Delhi, the average price was Rs 70 per kg on Wednesday.
Last month, the rates soared to more than Rs 100 per kg as supplies were hit due to heat waves followed by erratic rains in many producing states.
Khare said the ministry will consider roping in Mother Dairy to sell tomatoes through its Safal stores in the Delhi-NCR market.
In this case, the ministry has not utilised the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) as tomatoes were directly procured from mandis.
The federation is procuring tomatoes from wholesale mandis and selling them at reasonable retail prices. This move aims to ensure that profit margins remain reasonable at the retail level and prevent windfall gains to intermediaries and thereby protect the interests of consumers.
By this intervention, NCCF seeks to cool off price rise and maintain price stability in the market, benefiting consumers and promoting fair trade practices. This intervention demonstrates NCCF's commitment to protecting consumer interests and promoting a stable market ecosystem, the ministry had said.