Tomato prices soared at retail markets across the country on Friday, PTI reported.
In New Delhi, it was available at Rs 80 per kg, as compared to Rs 30 to Rs 35 per kg last year. In Mizoram’s capital Aizawl, tomato prices hit Rs 95 to Rs 100 per kg, and in Bengaluru, it rose to Rs 45 to Rs 50 per kg.
At Delhi’s Azadpur mandi, which is Asia’s largest wholesale market for fruits and vegetables, tomato was sold at Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg.
“The availability of tomato is less at present because the crop has been hit badly by the recent rains in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh,” Ashok Kaushik, the president of the Tomato Merchant Association at Azadpur mandi, told PTI, adding that about 90% of the crop in Madhya Pradesh was damaged.
Tomato supplies have dropped by 25% in Delhi, Kaushik said. On an average, 225 to 250 tonnes of tomato are usually traded at six major markets in Delhi every day, but this has reduced to about 170 to 180 tonnes.
On Thursday, the Centre imposed a minimum price of $850 (about Rs 55,000) a tonne for onion exports till the end of the year, after their prices rose to the highest in two years.
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