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

New Delhi: Vegetable vendors and wholesalers have blamed rains for disruption in tomato supply, leading to the price of the kitchen staple skyrocketing in retail markets of the national capital.

Local vendors are selling tomatoes in the price range of Rs 80 to Rs 120 per kg, depending on the quality and the localities.

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

"Prices go up every year during monsoon but the cost of tomatoes never went up this high. There is a major dip in supply due to the rains. Around half of our stock, which we got from Himachal Pradesh, got damaged," Malhotra told PTI.

The national capital region gets tomato supply from neighbouring states such as Haryana and Punjab and the hill states.

Bhagwan, a grocer in south Delhi's Kailash Hills area, said tomato prices have shot up. "We are getting tomatoes from wholesale markets at a higher price and selling at Rs 100-120 per kg," he said.

A vegetable vendor in Lajpat Nagar said people are reluctant to buy tomatoes due to the sudden price rise. "The current market rate is Rs 80 per kg. We get the supply from mandis where the wholesale price is around Rs 60 per kg. The price has shot up in the past two to three days due to rainfall," he said.

"Tomatoes are getting damaged which, again, is causing the sudden price rise," the vendor added.

A vegetable vendor in the Dilshad Garden area said the supply of tomatoes got affected due to rains.

"Supply has been affected due to rains. We are selling tomatoes from Himachal Pradesh. People are bargaining hard. But we cannot lower the price since we ourselves have to buy at a higher price. We hope the situation gets better in the coming days," he said.

Shweta Upadhyay, a media professional residing in Noida Extension, said that the prices of tomatoes were Rs 40 per kg just five days ago.

"Within a few days, the rate went up to Rs 100 per kg. We are trying to buy less tomato and using tomato puree instead," she said.