How India has gradually lowered its reliance on Canada for pulses imports?

Canada's share in total Masur imports has dropped to almost 38 percent when it comes to matar while it has come down to just around 31 percent

India’s diplomatic conflict with Canada has cast a shadow on the import of two major pulses: matar (peas) and masur (lentils). Relations between the two nations worsened since the June 2023 killing of Canadian national Hardeep Singh Nijjar, with Canada accusing India of involvement — claims India denies.

However, data shows that since mid-2023-24, India steadily reduced its reliance on Canada for these imports. Russia and Ukraine increased their share in India’s matar imports, while Turkey also emerged as a significant supplier. For masur, Australia has overtaken Canada as India’s primary supplier since FY24, with this trend accelerating in FY25.

 

“Until FY21, peas were imported under HS code 071310, which includes both green and yellow peas. Between FY16 and FY18, India became a dumping ground for large quantities of matar. Currently, only yellow peas with HS code 07131010 are being imported. From December to September, we may import 2.2 million tonnes of yellow peas,” said Rahul Chauhan, commodity analyst, iGrain India.
 

However, a decade ago, Canada dominated India’s pulse imports. In FY16, Canada supplied 92 per cent of India’s masur and 61 per cent of its matar. By July 2024, Canada’s share dropped to 38 per cent for masur and 31 per cent for matar.
 

Canadian pea imports face competition from Russia. From April to September 2024, India imported 451,000 tonnes of matar from Russia, compared to 306,000 tonnes from Canada, Chauhan highlighted. “In the case of lentils, Australia is providing strong competition to Canada. Last financial year, India imported 822,531 tonnes of masur from Australia, compared to 760,000 tonnes from Canada. This year, from April to September, imports from Australia might reach 154,000 tonnes, while Canada’s imports could total 105,000 tonnes. New countries like Russia, the USA, Turkey, and Singapore are also sending significant quantities of lentils to India.”