Nafed to import 1.9 lakh tonne yellow peas

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) has floated a global tender to import 1,90,000 tonnes of yellow peas by August to improve the domestic supplies, aimed at keeping its price under check.

However, the industry is sceptical about the feasibility of import of such a huge quantity, owing to infrastructural bottlenecks.

"I doubt whether they can import such a huge quantity because of lack of infrastructure," Mumbai-based Pulses Importers Association President K C Bhartiya told PTI.

He said prices of yellow peas would come down in the domestic market if the agency succeeded in importing the quantity that it was seeking through tender.

"Yellow peas is available in global markets in sufficient quantities and that too at lower price than the domestic rates," he said.

According to a tender posted in its website, NAFED has sought yellow peas of European and Canadian origin to be delivered at different ports of the country.

The tender, which was floated yesterday, closes on June 6. It has sought 1.2 lakh tonnes of the pulses of Canadian origin to be delivered at Indian ports by July, while 70,000 tonnes of yellow peas by August from European countries.

The government had announced in April that it would import 1.5 million tonnes of pulses through state-owned firms STC, PEC, MMTC and Nafed by December this year. Of the total imports, 7.5 lakh tonnes will be urad, masur, tur, moong, and gram while a similar quantity would be yellow peas and other pulses. Nafed has so far contracted to import 1.3 lakh tonnes of pulses.

"We have contracted to import 1.3 lakh tonnes of pulses, out of which about 80,000 tonnes have reached here," Nafed managing director Alok Ranjan had said, adding that the remaining quantity would arrive by July-end.

Through earlier tenders, Nafed has contracted to import urad and moong only from Myanmar. Seeing the supply-demand mismatch in the country, Ranjan said NAFED would continue to import pulses every month.

Besides urad, moong and yellow peas, the cooperative also plans to import tur (arhar) and gram (chana) in coming months.