Chennai, Aug 1 (BPNS)
The price of tomato continues to remain at Rs 200/kg in Chennai grocery stores with some supermarkets even charging Rs 210 per kilogram creating a difficult situation for families.
Tamil Nadu minister for cooperation, KR Periyakaruppan said that the state government would sell tomato at Rs 60/kg through 500 PDS shops across the state.
Speaking to media persons at Chennai, the minister said that the government was intervening in the market to reduce the woes faced by the families as the price of the staple vegetable was going up.
Minister said, “ The price of tomatoes went up in June and we expected it to come down within a week or maximum in two weeks. However there was no respite and instead the price started increasing and is continuing for the past one month.”
The minister also said that the vegetable price is on the rise due to low arrival of the vegetable in the market due to shortage in the production of tomatoes in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to heavy rains.
Vendors told IANS that in Karnataka the price of tomato is at present at Rs 1900 for a box comprising of 15 kg. This, according to the vendors is due to the shortage of the product.
Mustafa, a trader in Koyambedu market told BPNS that the price is expected to come down by the middle of August or by September first week as it would be time for the next harvest by then.
It may be recalled that the Tamil Nadu government had earlier sold tomatoes through the PDS market but the reduced arrival of stock is leading to higher pricing of the vegetable.
Share this: