New Delhi, August 05, 2023: Once again, the prices of tomatoes have surged in the national capital. According to PTI reports, Mother Dairy is selling tomatoes at Rs 259 per kg in its Safal retail stores. This increase in prices is a consequence of a significant drop in supply from key tomato-producing regions of India, where heavy rains have damaged the crops before they could be harvested. As a result, the average retail price in Delhi has risen to Rs 203 per kg.
The impact of the supply shortage is evident at Azadpur Mandi, which is Asia’s largest wholesale fruits and vegetables market. On Wednesday, the supply of tomatoes was reduced by 15 per cent, with only six small trucks arriving from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with tomato shipments.
A spokesperson from Mother Dairy stated that weather abnormalities have been affecting tomato supplies nationwide for the past two months. Over the last two days, the arrivals at Azadpur, the main supplier for Delhi, have drastically dropped, leading to a sharp increase in wholesale prices and subsequently affecting retail prices as well.
Starting from July 14, the central government had taken measures to regulate tomato prices by offering them at reduced rates through Safal outlets. However, due to the limited supply, prices have once again increased.
The President of the Azadpur Tomato Association, Ashok Kaushik, mentioned that the arrival of tomatoes has reduced in the last three days due to damage caused by heavy rainfall in major tomato-producing regions. Nevertheless, Kaushik also expressed optimism, expecting the supply to improve over the next ten days according to the reports published in punekarnews.in.
To ease the burden on consumers in Delhi, the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is providing tomatoes at a subsidized rate of just Rs 70 per kg, with doorstep delivery and no additional charges. Consumers can order tomatoes up to a maximum of 2 kg through platforms like Paytm and MagicPin.
