Pulses Import

The move aims to curb cheap imports from Canada, Australia, and Russia that dragged mandi prices below MSPs, while stabilising chana and other pulses ahead of the rabi sowing season

Past experience in India shows that production, higher minimum support prices, and procurement alone cannot solve the problem

India has extended duty-free imports of Urad for another year until March 31, 2026, according to a government notification. The provision was earlier in place until the end of March this year. Myanmar is the main exporting country of Urad to India. "The free import policy of Urad stands extended up to March 31, 2026," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification. The move would help in stabilising prices of the commodity in the domestic markets. The imports stood at USD 601.12 million during April-November this fiscal. Out of this value, USD 549 million worth of the grain was imported from Myanmar. The imports stood at USD 663.21 million in 2023-24 (USD 646.6 million from Myanmar). Besides Myanmar, India imports Urad from Singapore, Thailand, and Brazil. The bilateral trade between India and Myanmar was USD 1.74 billion in the last fiscal. It was USD 1.76 billion in 2022-23. The trade gap is in favour of Myanmar. The major Urad producing states are

The government has imposed a 10 per cent import duty on lentils (mosur) and extended the duty-free import of yellow peas by three months till May 31 this year to enhance domestic availability, according to a finance ministry notification. Through the notification, the government has imposed 5 per cent basic customs duty and 5 per cent Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on lentils with effect from March 8. So far, the import of lentils has been exempt from duty. The government had initially allowed the duty-free import of yellow peas in December 2023 and subsequently extended it thrice till February 28. As per estimates, India's yellow peas import stood at 30 lakh tonnes out of 67 lakh tonnes of overall pulses imported during 2024.

Eminent agri economist Ashok Gulati says imports likely to double in the next 5 yrs if policies remain unchanged

India's import of pulses rose 90 per cent annually to 47.38 lakh tonnes during 2023-24 to meet domestic demand, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday. "All India production of pulses has increased from 163.23 lakh tonnes during 2015-16 to 244.93 lakh tonnes during 2023-24 (as per 3rd Advance Estimates)," the Minister of State for Agriculture Ram Nath Thakur said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. In 2021-22, import of pulses stood at 26.99 lakh tonnes, while exports were at 3.87 lakh tonnes. During 2022-23, imports of pulses stood at 24.96 lakh tonnes, while exports were 7.62 lakh tonnes. In 2023-24, the imports of pulses were 47.38 lakh tonnes and exports stood at 5.94 lakh tonnes. "During the last ten years i.e. 2014-15 to 2023-24 (as per 3rd Advance Estimates), total pulses and oilseeds production has increased by 43 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively," Thakur said. In reply to a separate question, the minister said the government has substantially enhanced the b

The move is likely to shield Indian consumers from rising prices, but could discourage local farmers to boost plantings of the crops

India imported 4.65 million metric tons of pulses in the year ended March 31, 2024, the highest since fiscal 2018, and up from 2.53 million tons imported a year ago

In 2022-23, Canada was the biggest exporter of lentils to India, accounting for more than half of the total imports of the legume into the country

Free category means there will be no restrictions on imports

For tur and urad, the cargo should arrive in India before June 30, 2022

Among kharif oilseeds, soybean and groundnut are the biggest in terms of both production and area under cultivation

The government on Monday reduced the basic customs duty on imports of masur dal to zero and halved the Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess on the lentil to 10 per cent

The slash in import duties on crude palm oil has been negated by price rise in global markets, stock holding limits on pulses are self-defeating, say industry players

Move aimed at controlling the spiralling prices of pulses; all consignments have to come by Nov 30, before the new local crops arrive

While processing units continued to operate at less than 30-40% capacity, transportation of pulses was impacted, spiking retail prices even as wholesale prices remained subdued

There would be lower imports next year also because traders might not be able to buy from overseas market, taking advantage of loopholes in the import quota order

Meanwhile, the government has decided to offload 5 lakh tonne pulses from its buffer stock to both state governments as well as in the open market.

Scenario is precarious for urad with almost half the crop damaged in major growing states, tur quota of 400,000 tonnes already exhausted

They have also submitted fresh questions on the validity of the steps taken by India under global trade rules and asked New Delhi to justify the restrictions under the WTO rules