Nepal: Importing tomatoes from Nepal part of steps to calm inflation, says Nirmala Sitharaman – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government is taking a series of steps to cool down inflation, including importing tomatoes from Nepal and increasing the supply of subsidised ones through coopeartives and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), amid signs of moderation in prices.

Participating in the discussion on the no-confidence motion, Sitharaman said the Modi government was turning dreams into a reality by delivering on promises, resulting in a change in the discourse from milega to mil gaya (from to get to received), from banega to ban gaya (will be built to built) and from aayega to aa gaya (will come to arrived). She listed a host of services – from bank accounts to electricity supply, gas connections and cheaper medicines – to argue that over the last nine years, the government had undertaken transformational changes to turn the economy, once listed as fragile, into one that is growing at the fastest pace among large ones.
“UPA has wasted a whole decade, but every crisis has changed to reform now. That is why under NDA, we have seen high growth and low inflation instead of low growth and high inflation during UPA’s tenure,” she said in a speech that lasted over an hour and saw her speak in English, Hindi and Tamil.

The minister told Lok Sabha that UPI had been a success India’s Digital Public Infrastructure was seeing global interest from countries ranging from Singapore, UAE and France to the US, Canada and the UK.
She argued that several steps have been taken by the government to tame inflation and more will be initiated, if required.
The finance minister said that the government was procuring tomatoes from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and nearly 9 lakh kg had been sold at subsidised rates by NCCF in several parts of the countries. In certain parts of the country, such as Delhi, consumers could also order online through ONDC.
“Wholesale prices are now lower in some of the mandis. As of today, we have booked tomatoes from Kolar mandi at 85 a kg. In Andhra Pradesh it is now below Rs 100 a kg. We have also initiated imports from Nepal and the first lot is likely to reach by Friday. NCCF is planning a mega sale of tomatoes in NCR at Rs 70 this weekend,” Sitharaman said.