Nationwide protest over stock limits on pulses

Traders threaten to stop buying, seek release of seized stocks

Traders have threatened to stop trading in protest against stock limits on pulses and raids on their warehouses.

Hundreds of mill owners, retailers and stockists gathered in Vashi, near Mumbai, on Saturday and decided to intensify the sporadic protests in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the three largest pulses trading states.

They had earlier threatened to go on indefinite strike if the government did not withdraw holding limits on pulses and release stocks seized in recent raids.

“We have made representations to the Maharashtra government on several occasions. But bureaucrats seem oblivious to our concerns. We have no choice but to go on strike,” said Devendra Vora, a Vashi-based stockist and spokesperson of the pulses traders there.

Maharashtra had on October 18 ruled retailers could hold a maximum 300 tonnes of all pulses. Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, too, have levied stock limits on pulses.

The Maharashtra government started raids on stockists three hours after the notification was issued and seized a large quantity of pulses, which the government claims to have been hoarded and stockists describe as need-based imports. Raids across the country yielded 80,000 tonnes of all types of pulses.

“Normally, any change in law provides time to stockists to liquidate their extra inventory. All dealings were done according to the prevailing law till October 18. So allow traders to clear stocks before enacting a new law,” said Bimal Kothari, vice-chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA).

Traders have threatened to sell their inventory in three days and abstain from fresh trading until the government releases the seized stocks and withdraws the stock limits.

“The urad crop failed this year because of a drought in major producing states. While the chana and masoor crops were okay, the price rise in tur and urad pulled up chana prices as well. Tur prices are up globally due to lower output. The new tur crop is set arrive in the market by the third week of December and its price will normalise,” Kothari said.

The price of tur touched Rs 200 a kg in retail markets in October, and urad, chana and masoor prices also hit record highs.

“We will stop running mills for three months until the situation returns to normal. We will not procure fresh pulses for the current season,” said Motiram Wadhwani, president, Madhya Pradesh Pulses Traders’ Association.

The government’s first advance estimates show kharif pulses’ output at 5.56 million tonnes, well below the target 7 million tonnes and lower than the 5.63 million tonnes produced in the previous season. The government was expecting a sharp rise in sowing this rabi season, but farmers are worried over returns because of the action against traders. There has been only an 11 per cent increase in the rabi pulses acreage so far this season.

“The problem will emerge when the new season tur crop starts arriving in mills for processing in coming months. The government must address the issues before that,” said Yogesh Prasad Pandey, proprietor, Narmada Dal Mill and Warehouse, Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh.