Govt revises norms on imports of pulses

May 17, 2021

The Government of India recently allowed free import of tur, moong and urad dal. All the three pulses have been put under non-restricted list. This is because their retail prices increased in the last few weeks due to low stock levels with the traders. Also, the GoI has announced that the import consignments should be cleared strictly before November 30, 2021.

Why the deadline for the norms?

Consignments means a batch goods destined to be delivered to someone. By November 2021, the Kharif harvests of these three pulses will start arriving in the market. If the import is made free during that time, it will affect the farmers income. Only if the free imports are stopped farmers will get reasonable rates above the Minimum Support Price.

Also, this Kharif season, GoI has increased the area of cultivation of pulses. This is to be done under the Special Kharif Strategy, 2021. This means more pulses will be arriving in the markets by November to December 2021. Kharif Season crops predominantly depend on South West Monsoon. They are sown in June and harvested in October.

Current Scenario

The Tur prices in the retail markets have reached Rs 7,000 per quintal. One Quintal is 100 kilograms. This is Rs 1000 more than its 2021 MSP, which was Rs 6000 per quintal.
Similarly, the price of Urad Dal is Rs 8,000 per quintal. Its 2020-21 MSP was Rs 6,000 per quintal.
The price of moong dhal is almost equal to its 2020-21 MSP and is Rs 7,196 per quintal.