Amid a spike in retail prices of tomato across the country, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal Sunday said that when compared to the prices from last year, there is not much difference in the average price of the commodity.
“Tomato is the only commodity whose price has increased during the week. We all know that due to unseasonal rains, the prices of tomatoes have increased and as soon as tomatoes start arriving from Himachal Pradesh and some places of Karnataka, the prices will go down,” Goyal told ANI.
He added, “The prices of potatoes and onions are under control. If we compare with last year’s prices, tomato’s average rate is the same. The prices of onion and potatoes are less than what they were last year.”
#WATCH | Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal, says “Tomato is the only commodity whose price has increased during the week. We all know that due to unseasonal rains, the prices of tomatoes have increased and as soon as tomatoes start arriving from Himachal Pradesh… pic.twitter.com/d3GDzt6ENV
— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2023
Over the last fortnight, the retail price of tomato has crossed Rs 60 per kg in towns and cities around the country — it was selling for more than Rs 100/kg at some places on Tuesday. Prices of tomatoes shot up in major metro cities such as Bengaluru, Kanpur, Delhi, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
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Calling the rise in prices a “seasonal phenomenon”, Goyal said the world has lauded India in its effort to curb inflation. “It has brought relief to the people and we have also been able to lower inflation level again to 4-4.5 per cent,” he added.
“We have been able to keep the prices of rice, wheat, oil and other items under control this year,” he said.