Tomatoes disappear from kitchens as prices soar in Delhi, vendors blame rains

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Greengrocers and wholesalers blamed the rain for disrupting tomato supplies, driving up prices of staple foods in retail markets in the national capital.

Local vendors sell tomatoes in the price range of INR 80 to 120 per kg, depending on the quality and sweeteners.

Anil Malhotra, a member of the Azadpur Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), said tomato prices go up every monsoon, but it has never been this high.

“Prices go up every year during monsoons, but the cost of tomatoes has never gone up so high. There is a huge drop in supply due to rains. About half of our stock, which we got from Himachal Pradesh, is damaged,” Malhotra said. PTI.

NCR gets tomato supplies from neighboring states like Haryana, Punjab and hill states.

Bhagwan, a grocer in the Kailash Hills district of south Delhi, said tomato prices had gone up. “We get tomatoes from wholesale markets at a higher price and sell them at 100-120 rupees per kilogram,” he said.

A vegetable seller in Lajpat Nagar said people are reluctant to buy tomatoes because of the sudden price hike. “The current market price is 80 rupees per kg. We get supply from the mandis where the wholesale price is around 60 rupees per kg. The price has gone up in the last two or three days because of the rains,” he said. The seller added, “The tomatoes are being damaged, which again causes a sudden price hike.”

A vegetable seller in the Dilshad Garden area said that the tomato supply has been affected by the rain. “The supply has been affected because of the rains. We are selling tomatoes from Himachal Pradesh. People are bargaining hard. But we can’t lower the price because we have to buy at a higher price. We hope the situation will improve in the coming days,” he said.

Shweta Upadhyay, a media resident in Noida Extension, said that tomato prices were Rs 40 per kg just five days ago.

“Within a few days, the price has gone up to 100 rupees per kilogram. We try to buy less tomatoes and use tomato puree instead,” she said.