Costlier tomato a spot of bother for Das & Co once again, retails up to Rs 100/kg

Like the Monday blues, tomato woes are back, with the staple retailing around up to around Rs 90 per kilogram in multiple cities including metros like Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. This sudden uptick in tomato prices spells bitter news for policymakers who are focused on reigning in inflation but are troubled by the volatility of the food basket.

Tomatoes are pinching the wallets once again following severe heatwave conditions in several parts of India including in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala which has impacted the supply and production of tomatoes. The summer crop faced a major setback due to high temperatures in key growing regions like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh which led to a 35 per cent reduction in tomato arrivals, a report by CRISIL said.

Meanwhile, heavy downpours in Himachal Pradesh damaged the road network in the Himalayan state, reducing supplies to main consumption centres, ET reported last week.

As of July 7, the daily average retail price of tomato touched Rs 59.87 per kg compared to Rs 35 a month ago, a rise of over 70 per cent, according to the price monitoring division of the Consumer Affairs Ministry. Prices of tomatoes are hovering at Rs 80-90 on prominent digital services like Amazon Fresh, Swiggy and Zepto in many parts of the country.

The average tomato prices had already hit Rs 59.88 across India as of July 5, a continued uptick from May itself, as per Daily Food Price Data by the Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA). While a kilo of tomatoes are retailing around Rs 50 in North India, in North East, West and South, it is 71, 60.5 and 60 respectively.


Typically, vegetable prices are on the rise in monsoon months as rainfall affects harvesting including plucking and packaging. Last year too, heavy rainfall and flash floods pushed tomato prices to cross Rs 350 per kg in some retail markets.

Also Read: Why food prices will remain high in India

Thali gets heavier
The cost of preparing a home-cooked vegetarian thali surged by 10 per cent in June on the back of sharp shoot in prices of tomato, onion, and potato (TOP), as per a CRISIL report.

Tomato prices shot up by 30 per cent, onion prices soared by 46 per cent, and potato prices increased by a staggering 59 per cent (all on an annual basis), CRISIL noted adding that this surge in vegetable prices has largely been due to several adverse factors impacting supply.

Elephant keeps bothering Das
A historically volatile component, food prices currently account for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket. For this very reason, inflation, despite coming down to 4.75 per cent in May may not offer the Reserve Bank of India the greatest of comforts. RBI wants to bring down the inflation durably to its median target of 4 per cent but is wary of challenges posed by food items to the headline figure.

While announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy on June 7, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das warned that the exceptionally hot summer season and low reservoir levels may induce more stress on the summer crop of vegetables and fruits.

Rate of food inflation quickened by 8.69 per cent year-on-year in May, slightly down from 8.70 per cent in April. Notably, food prices have consistently surged at an annual rate exceeding 8 per cent since November 2023. Wholesale inflation too hit a 15-month high on the back of increase in food article prices.

Also Read:Tomato prices in India skyrocket on tight supply

Inflation in vegetables was 32.42 per cent in May, up from 23.60 per cent in the previous month. Onion inflation was at 58.05 per cent, while potato was 64.05 per cent. Pulses inflation rose 21.95 per cent in May.

"The intense heat waves across several parts of the country meant no letup in the food price momentum in May, seen in case of perishables such vegetables and milk, and non-perishables such as pulses and sugar," Yuvika Singhal, Economist at Quanteco Research had written when data for May was announced.