The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that India is planning to import tomatoes from Nepal in the midst of a record increase in the price of tomatoes across the nation. In a speech to the Parliament she said that the first batch of imported tomatoes will likely arrive within Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur cities of the northern part of India this morning.

Prices for tomatoes have risen by nearly 1,400% in the market for wholesale to the record of price of Rs140 ($1.69) per kilogram in the last three months, and farmers have cited reasons such as lower rainfall, high temperatures, and an outbreak of a virus which has afflicted the crop in the Reuters report.

As reported on economictimes.indiatimes.com, tomato prices witnessed a significant surge in June and July leading to high inflation. Prices for vegetables, which carry an average weighting of 6 percent in the general Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached the seven-month mark in June. They increased by 12 percent month-on-month according to PTI using official statistics.

Tomato prices drop as Chandigarh-Shimla highway reopens

In the wake of inclement weather Chandigarh tomatoes prices had risen into an all-time record of Rs250/kg on the 11th of July. But, the opening of the road between Chandigarh and Shimla (NH-05) is bringing the residents double joy, because the return of traffic is also helping to improve availability of tomatoes, which has brought down the cost to around the low of Rs80 for a kilogram.

[ Rs100 = 1.10 ]

Source: hindustantimes.com