Tomato prices further slashed: NAFED, NCCF to sell at Rs 70/kg

The Union government on July 19 announced a further cut in retail prices of tomatoes sold through two cooperatives—the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).

The Department of Consumer Affairs has directed both cooperatives to sell tomatoes at a retail price of Rs 70 per kg, effective from July 20, 2023.

Initially, the tomatoes were priced at Rs 90 per kg, which was later lowered to Rs 80 per kg on July 16, 2023. With this new directive to offer tomatoes at Rs 70 per kg, consumers will enjoy even greater benefits, the government said in a statement.

As per the previous directive from the Department of Consumer Affairs, NCCF and NAFED had initiated the procurement of tomatoes from various mandis in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra to ensure simultaneous distribution in major consumption centres where retail prices had significantly increased over the past month.

The retail sale of these procured tomatoes in the Delhi-NCR region began on July 14, 2023. Since then, both agencies have successfully procured a total of 391 MT of tomatoes. These tomatoes are being continuously supplied to retail consumers in the major consumption centres of Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.

The initiative aims to stabilize tomato prices and provide relief to consumers in these regions.