Pulses export policy change to take time to fructify

Due to an export ban, the pulses market in India was characterised mostly by consumption catered to by a combination of production and imports

A year after Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian pressed for lifting ban on export of pulses, the government ended the 10-year-old ban on September 18. This comes in conjunction with the import restriction on tur dal (pigeon pea) to 0.2 million tonnes, and on urad dal (split black gram) and moong dal (split green gram) together to 0.3 million tonnes for 2017-18. 

Pulses have thus come a long way — from banned exports and free imports for the past 10 years to free exports limited to three dals and restricted imports with a 10 per cent tax as of today.