Chennai, Aug 1 (IANS): With the price of tomato continuing to remain at Rs 200/kg in Chennai, with some supermarkets even charging Rs 210, creating a difficult situation for families, the state government is intervening to help the common people.

Tamil Nadu Cooperation Minister K.R. Periyakaruppan said that the state government would sell tomato at Rs 60/kg through 500 PDS shops across the state.

Addressing media persons here, he said that the government was intervening in the market to reduce the woes faced by the families as the price of the staple vegetable was going up.

"The price of tomatoes went up in June and we expected it to come down within a week or maximum in two weeks. However there was no respite and instead, the price started increasing and is continuing for the past one month," he said.

The minister also said that the vegetable price is on the rise due to low arrival of the vegetable in the market due to shortage in the production of tomatoes in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to heavy rains.

Vendors told IANS that in Karnataka, the price of tomato is at present at Rs 1,900 for a box of 15 kg. This, according to the vendors, is due to the shortage of the product.

Mustafa, a trader in Koyambedu market told IANS that the price is expected to come down by the middle of August or by September first week as it would be time for the next harvest by then.

The Tamil Nadu government had earlier sold tomatoes through the PDS shops but the reduced arrival of stocks is leading to higher pricing of the vegetable.