States, too, responsible for high pulses prices

Only 3, out of 11 states, lift pulses allocated by Centre

Pulse prices have been rising for many reasons but it seems states, too, are contributing to some part of it by not lifting the pulses allocated by the Centre to cool down prices.

According to data furnished by the ministry of consumer affairs, till January 2016, about 29,000 tonnes of pulses have been allocated to 11 states, of which only three states - Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telengana - have lifted only 16 per cent of these.

The department of consumer affairs in a statement repeatedly urged the state governments to lift the pulses - tur and urad - from the buffer stock for distribution at not more than Rs 120 per kg.

"Pulses - Tur at Rs 67 per kg and urad at the rate of Rs 82 per kg," the statement added.

It said on request of the state governments, over 29,000 tonnes of pulses have been allocated to the states as on January 2016, but only three states have lifted some quantities against their allotments.So far, government agencies have procured about 119,572 tonnes of pulses from the domestic market and farmers and 56,000 tonnes have been contracted for import.

Thus, the Centre has about 175,572 tonnes of pulses in the buffer stock.

It recently decided to more than double the size of stock, from 0.8 2 million tonnes (mt) to two mt, which would be built through domestic procurement and local purchases. The Centre has also decided to import 30,000 tonnes of pulses - 20,000 tonnes tur and 10,000 tonnes urad - for the buffer stock.

The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of Price Stabilisation Fund, chaired by Union Consumer Affairs Secretary, Hem Pande, here on Wednesday. The meeting reviewed the procurement and distribution of pulses from buffer stock.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday informed the Parliament that India has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mozambique to import 3,75,000 tonnes of pulses during 2016-19.

In 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19, about 100,000 tonnes of pulses would be imported while 125,000 and 150,000 tonnes would be imported in the remaining two years.

India imported pulses worth $3.90 billion in 2015-16, as against $2.78 billion in the previous financial year. In quantity terms, pulses imports in 2015-16 stood at 5.79 mt as against 4.58 mt in 2014-15.