Lucknow: Congress opens 'State Bank of Tomato', protest against hike in prices

New Delhi: In order to protest against the surge in tomato prices, the Congress party opened the State Bank of Tomato in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow on Wednesday. Reportedly, the bank promises benefits to those who deposit tomatoes in the bank. It has promised a return of 5 times on the initial tomato deposit. It has been said that the bank will operate from 10 am to 5 pm every day. A customer deposited 0.5 Kg tomatoes in the bank. The person tweeted that he has deposited 0.5 Kg tomatoes and will get 1 Kg after 6 months. The protest came in response to the hike in prices of the tomatoes. Recently, the supply of tomatoes went short after heavy rainfall and the prices touched the sky. In Delhi, the price of tomatoes crossed Rs 100 per kg, in Mumbai it reached Rs 80, in Chennai Rs 57 while Rs 95 in Kolkata. Since the beginning of June, the prices have shot up four times. Initially, it was being sold at Rs 25 per kg in the NCR. The suppliers said that they have been badly hit in the national capital as the crops in other states have been damaged due to heavy rainfall. The supplies of tomatoes have stopped in Haryana as the harvesting there has been completed early.