Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that India will be importing tomatoes from Nepal, amid a record high surge in prices in the country. During a Parliamentary speech, Sitharaman stated that the first lot of imports are likely to reach in Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur cities in northern India today.
Tomato prices have surged more than 1,400 per cent at the wholesale market to a record ₹140 ($1.69) per kg in the past three months, with farmers citing reasons including poor rainfall, higher temperatures and a virus outbreak that have hit the crop, as per a Reuters report.
As reported on economictimes.indiatimes.com, tomato prices witnessed a significant surge in June and July leading to high inflation. Vegetables prices, which have a 6 per cent weighting in the overall consumer price index (CPI), hit a seven-month high in June, rising 12 per cent month-on-month, reported PTI, citing official data.
Tomato prices drop as Chandigarh-Shimla highway reopens
Due to inclement weather, Chandigarh tomato rates had shot up to an all-time high of ₹250 per kg on July 11. However, the reopening of the Chandigarh-Shimla highway (NH-05) has brought double delight for residents, as resumption of traffic has also helped improve tomato supply, bringing down its prices to ₹80 per kg.
[ ₹100 = 1.10 ]
Source: hindustantimes.com