Govt asks Mother Dairy to cut tomato rates by Rs 2-3/kg

To provide relief to people of the national capital from high tomato prices, the Centre has asked state-run Mother Dairy to reduce the vegetable's rates by Rs 2-3 per kg from Thursday.

Presently, the dairy major is selling three varieties of tomato at Rs 30/kg, Rs 40/kg and Rs 55/kg through its 400 retail outlets named Safal.

Mother Dairy, Kendriya Bhandar and cooperative NCCF were also asked to sell tur dal at Rs 80-85 per kg through their retail outlets.

These decisions were taken after the review of the prices of key commodities at a high-level meeting, chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary Avinash K Srivastava.

"Two-three decisions were taken in the meeting with respect to tomato and pulses," a senior Consumer Affairs Ministry official said.

In case of tomato, Mother Dairy was directed to reduce the rates of all three varieties by Rs 2-3 per kg from October 24, the official said.

The official further said the Centre has decided to boost the supply of a hybrid variety of tomato in Delhi in the next few days. Hybrids have a longer shelf life and are of better quality.

It was informed in the meeting that the transportation of tomatoes from Andhra Pradesh was not feasible.

Tomato prices have shot up to Rs 60-80 per kg in the national capital and some other parts of the country due to rains in key growing state of Maharashtra.

In case of pulses, the official said cooperative Nafed has been asked to provide milled-tur dal at Rs 82 per kg to the Delhi government.

Besides, tur dal will be sold at Rs 80-85 per kg at 'no-profit no-loss' basis through Safal, Kendriya Bhandar and NCCF outlets in the national capital region, the official said.

These agencies will sell the buffer stock of pulses created by the government.

Tur dal rates in the national capital have crossed Rs 100 per kg, though the government data shows Rs 97/kg on Wednesday.