Even as citizens are yet to come to terms with skyrocketing prices of onion, rates of another important veggie tomato has soared in the national capital due to supply crunch and export of the item to Pakistan.
Prices of tomato has risen to Rs 40 a kg in retail in Delhi today against Rs 15-20 a kg 10 days back, trade sources said.
The wholesale prices of the tomato in Azadpur market (Asia's biggest fruit & vegetable market) has moved upward from Rs 10-15 a kg ten days ago to Rs 25-30 a kg today,General Secretary of Tomato Traders Association Subhash Chuk told PTI.
He attributed tomato price rise to fall in supply in the market.
Against 40 trucks of tomato (each truck carrying 8 tonnes) 10 days back, supply has dropped to 8-10 trucks now, Chuk added.
President, Tomato Traders Association, Darshan Lal Arora blamed large-scale export of the important vegetable to Pakistan to earn "handsome cash' as also a significant reason for the shortage in domestic market of the national capital.
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Vice President of Amritsar Export Association, Rajdeep Singh Uppal told PTI over phone that around 100 trucks of tomato (each carrying about 15 tonnes) was going to Pakistan through Wagah border till recently.
Now there has been a fall in transportation of tomato to Pakistan because of rise in prices in the domestic markets itself which has made export to Pakistan less profitable, Uppal added.
Indian traders were fetching about Rs 500 (in Indian currency) for 20 kg of tomato to Pakistan till 10 days back, but now it has come down to Rs 400-450 for the same quantity.
This, Uppal said, is less than Rs 550-600 for 20 kg of tomato in the Indian market itself.
Chuk also pointed to damage to the crop due to unseasonal rains in Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) and Ahmedabad region of Gujarat from where bulk supplies come to Delhi.
Chuk and Arora hoped the situation would improve in next 2-3 weeks with arrival of fresh supply of the crop from Gujarat and Rajasthan regions.