Government imports 13,000 tonnes of pulses to check rising prices

The Union government has imported about 13,000 tonnes of pulses to check rising food inflation, and is expecting another 6,000 tonnes of pulses in the next few weeks, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said on Tuesday.

The imported pulses include 11,000 tonnes of Tur and 2,000 tonnes of Urad.

“Besides contracted import of 38,500 tonnes of pulses, the central government agencies have procured 51,000 tonnes of Kharif and 60,000 tonnes of Rabi pulses so far (from the domestic market),” the Ministry said in a statement here.

The Union government has also urged the state governments to seek allocation of pulses from the buffer stock to check any increase in the prices of pulses.

“State governments have been urged to seek allocation of pulses from the buffer stock as those should not be sold at more than Rs 120 a kg,” the statement said.

“In Delhi, Kendriya Bhandar and Safal have been allocated pulses to sell through their outlets. So far 635.31 quintals of Tur and 245 quintals of Urad have been sold by these agencies at Rs 120 a kg,” it added.

The states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Telangana have been allocated requested quantities of pulses.

The statement added that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has also procured about 32 million tonnes of wheat against the Public Distribution System (PDS) requirement of about 24 million tonnes.

“The government has already sanctioned about 6.25 million tonnes of wheat for open market sale during the current financial year,” the statement said.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) have procured 15,635 tonnes of onions to keep their prices under control.