NEW DELHI: The central government's new scheme is a relief to the people in the face of soaring prices of vegetables. The price of tomatoes had skyrocketed recently. Then from today the government has started selling tomatoes at Rs 90 per kg in selected cities like Delhi, Lucknow and Patna. Under this scheme, a person can buy up to two kg of tomatoes at a subsidized rate. The government buys and sells tomatoes from markets in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

An official announcement was made last Wednesday that tomatoes will be given to people at low prices in the NCR region of Delhi on Friday. The officials said tomatoes will also be sold through mobile vans. Reports said tomatoes will be delivered to cities like Lucknow, Kanpur and Jaipur during the weekend.

NCCF started selling tomatoes through 20 mobile vans and five centres in 11 districts today. NCCF Chairman Vishal Singh told the media that nearly 17,000 kg of tomatoes were sold on the first day itself. NCCF plans to sell about 20,000 kg of tomatoes tomorrow.

NCCF managing director Anees Joseph Chandra said that tomato is sold at Rs 90 per kg but the storage rate is Rs 120 to 130 per kg. He also stated that the central government will bear the loss.

In Delhi, the price of tomato rose to Rs 110 in the month of June. Also, the prices of tomatoes were too high in major cities of the country like Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.