Getting dearer: After tomatoes, chana prices rise ahead of festival season

Good stocks with government could come in handy to cool down rates

After lying still for several weeks, prices of chana (gram), which is among the most commonly consumed pulses in the country, have started moving upwards. This could be an additional headache for the government, which is battling inflation on multiple fronts, ahead of the festival season, which starts around August-end. Recently, the price of key kitchen staple, tomato, had surged as high as Rs 242  per kilogram in the retail  market.

Compared to other pulses, such as arhar and urad, the saving grace in the case of chana is the reasonably good stocks with the state agencies. This could come handy to control the prices.

Though there is no official statement on the stocks of chana the government holds, trade and market sources said it is somewhere around 3.5-3.6 million tonnes.

Also, this is perhaps after a long time that chana is selling above the 2023-24 minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,335 a quintal. But the big question is how many farmers are benefitting from this as the harvest is usually over by March.

Traders said increased demand from millers ahead of the festival season and the low stocks are the main reasons for the rise in the rates.

The usual bullishness in the other two pulses — arhar and urad — is also rubbing off into chana, feel some traders.

Data sourced from private traders and others showed that between July 1 and August 12, desi chana prices moved up by almost 12 per cent in major consuming centres. Kabuli chana (a premium variety) has risen by nearly 14-29 per cent in major trading centres. Besan (gram flour) rates, too, have risen by 10-12 per cent during the same timeframe. Even data sourced from the department of consumer affairs shows that between July 1 and August 12, wholesale rates of chana dal in Delhi markets have risen by almost 11.3 per cent from Rs 5,750 a quintal to Rs 6,400. 

The retail inflation in chana (gram whole) has also risen from 1.18 per cent in January 2023 to 2.97 per cent in June 2023. For arhar or tur, it has risen from 10.94 per cent in January 2023 to 27.50 per cent in June 2023.

The price at which government chana stocks are being offloaded in the market to cool down rates has also seen a revision over the last few weeks. The rates now are nearly Rs 200-250 per quintal more than previous sales.

Chana production in the 2022-23 crop year, which ended in June, is estimated to be 13.54 million tonnes, same as the previous year, according to the third advance estimate.