Piyush Goyal seeks ideas from startups to manage tomato supply chain

Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, said on Saturday, that he was seeking views of startups to manage the tomato supply chain. This is since the price of the vegetable rises significantly during certain months.

"I am looking for ideas from some of you how we can manage the tomato economy better because tomato prices went up to Rs 200 per kg," Goyal said, addressing a startup event in Gurugram.

For instance, the price for tomato in the Delhi-NCR were high in July, following a supply disruption from the producing centres owing to rains.

Startups should come out with solutions both for elementary and "big" serious problems, Goyal said. The budding entrepreneurs would help in making India a developed country, the Union Minister added.

In July, the Consumer Affairs Ministry, in collaboration with the Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education, also announced a 'Tomato Grand Challenge hackathon'. It invited innovative ideas from students, research scholars, teachers, industries, startups, and professionals at various levels of the tomato value chain to ensure the availability of tomatoes to consumers at affordable prices and help tomato farmers get value for the produce.

According to media reports, a similar initiative was taken during the surge in onion prices, and the government had received 13 ideas focused on value addition and price controls for onions.