 "Amid supply chain woes, Tomato prices breach Rs 200 per kg mark in Delhi")
Tomato prices have crossed Rs 200 per kilogram (KG) in Delhi, according to data from local vendors and online grocery sellers.
On Zepto, tomato (desi) and tomato (hybrid) were priced at Rs 216 and Rs 224 per kg on Thursday morning. On Zomato-owned Blinkit, the price for Tomato (Desi) was Rs 226 per kg. The price of tomato (hybrid) was Rs 225 per kg.
On Tata Group's BigBasket, however, the prices of both varieties of tomato were a bit lower at Rs 188 per kg.
Locally, the prices of the vegetable in Okhla Mandi were also higher than Rs 200 per kg. At Najafgarh mandi, the tomatoes were selling at Rs 215 per kg on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Centre announced that it would start selling tomatoes at discounted rates in retail markets in the national capital and a few other cities from Friday to provide relief to consumers.
Announcing the decision, the consumer affairs ministry said the sale of tomatoes will be undertaken by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF).
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Tomatoes will be sold at discounted rates in Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region), Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. It will be available in cities including Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur and Kolkata.
"Tomatoes will be sold at a considerably lesser rate than the prevailing price in that area. It will be at least 30 per cent lower than the prevailing market rate on that given day. The idea is to give relief to consumers," said consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh..
In Delhi-NCR, NCCF will sell tomatoes through its own outlets, mobile vans, Mother Dairy's Safal and Kendriya Bhandar outlets.
In other cities, both NAFED and NCCF will sell the kitchen staple at discounted rates through their own outlets or will have local ties up for the same.
According to Singh, the sale of tomatoes at discounted rates will continue till prices cool down, which is likely at the beginning of August.
Tomatoes are produced in almost all states in varying quantities. Maximum production is in Southern and Western regions of India, contributing 56-58 per cent of all-India production.
As per the ministry's data, the average all-India retail price of tomato was Rs 111.71 per kg on Wednesday.
The maximum increase in retail price was Rs 203 per kg in Bathinda, Punjab while the minimum rate was Rs 34 per kg in Bidar in Karnataka.
Among the metros, the retail price of tomato was quoted highest in Delhi at Rs 150 per kg, followed by Mumbai at Rs 137 per kg, Kolkata at Rs 137 per kg and Chennai at Rs 123 per kg on Wednesday.
Other cities where prices are ruling high are Bengaluru (Rs 95-118/kg), Gurgaon and Patna (Rs 140/kg), Jammu (Rs 147/kg), Kanpur (Rs 120/kg), and Varanasi (Rs 120/kg)
Tomato prices normally come under pressure during July-August and October-November periods, which are generally the lean production months. Supply disruption caused due to the monsoon has led to a further spike in the rates.
(With PTI inputs)