Commerce ministry lays down procedure for import of certain pulses

The commerce ministry has laid down a procedure for import of a few varieties of pulses for the current fiscal and has invited applications from millers.

According to the ministry's foreign trade arm DGFT, millers and refiners of these pulses need licence for imports.

"Procedure for import of 2 lakh tonne pigeon peas/toor dal, 1.5 lakh tonne urad dal, 1.5 lakh tonne moong dal and 1.5 lakh tonne peas (including yellow peas, green peas, dun peas, and kaspa peas) is laid down," directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) has said in a notice.

As per the procedure, for each refining/processing unit, applicants will have to provide self-certified copy of a document indicating its refining/ processing capacity.

This document should be issued by a central, state or district authority.

The absence of the document will render the application liable for rejection, it said.

"The licence holders shall submit monthly statements indicating the actual arrival of shipments at the Indian ports," it added.

The country has been importing 4-6 MT (million tonne) pulses every year to meet the domestic demand of about 24 MT.

In view of the bumper output, the government has imposed quantitative cap on the imports.