Govt offloads over 93,500 tons of seized pulses in retail mkts

Over 93,500 tonnes of pulses seized from hoarders have been offloaded in the retail markets, the government said today adding that this will help curb prices of lentils further.
Pulses prices have declined from the peak of Rs 200 per kg in October to Rs 180 per kg at present in most retail markets due to various government measures including curbs on hoarding of pulses stocks.
Prices of key pulses, especially tur and urad, have shot up unabated in the last few months due to a fall in domestic output by 2 million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) due to deficit monsoon.

As per reports received from the state governments, about 1,30,613 tonnes of pulses was seized from hoarders out of which, 93,507.83 tonnes of pulses has been offloaded in the market, an official statement said.
"Till yesterday, 93,507.83 tonnes of pulses seized under de-hoarding operations have been auctioned or offloaded through other options in the market to increase availability. This will help to moderate the prices further," it said.
As many as 14,721 raids were conducted against hoarders of pulses in 14 states and an union territory.

As per the data, a maximum of 2,55,45 tonnes of pulses were seized in Karnataka, of which 5,787 tonnes have been offloaded till yesterday.

Maharasthra has offloaded 79,478 tonnes of pulses out of the total seized quantity of 86,709 tonnes so far, while Odisha has released almost entire quantity of 1,410 tonnes.
Other states are in the process of releasing the seized pulses in the market, it added.