New Delhi, India

Prices of tomatoes will be slashed as the government is taking steps to control inflation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday (August 10) that tomatoes are being imported from Nepal to meet the demand and check prices. 

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While speaking during the Lok Sabha debate on the no-confidence motion, Sitharaman said: "Lot of steps have been taken to contain inflation. Group of Ministers has been taking timely steps to control prices which are hitting common people." 

While mentioning rising prices of other food items, she said that Tur dal is being imported from Mozambique, Urad dal will be imported from Myanmar, while around three lakh tonnes of onions have been procured to create a buffer stock. 

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The finance minister said that tomatoes are being procured from Maharashtra and Karnataka, and distributed in Delhi-NCR, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and other cooperative societies. 

She further stated that the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) has distributed 8.84 lakh kg of tomatoes in these states and also said that the wholesale prices of tomatoes in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are coming down. 

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She said, "This will continue, and be increased." 

"We have allowed imports from Nepal by removing import restrictions. The first lot will reach Varanasi, Kanpur, and Lucknow this week," she said. 

The minister said that more such steps will be taken by the government to control the prices. She added NCCF is also planning a mega sale of tomatoes in the Delhi NCR region at a subsidized rate of Rs 70 per kg this weekend. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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