Economy India | Pulses Govt Create 40000 Tons Buffer Stock Check Prices

He said while Kendriya Bhandar has started selling arhar in Delhi at Rs 120 per kg, Safal outlets would sell imported items at Rs 120-130. With the Centre on Friday claiming that it would create a buffer stock of 40,000 tonnes of pulses, sources said the move would yield no result because the state governments want to stay away from distribution of pulses.

Mr. Balyan said half of the imported 5000 tonnes of tur and urad that have arrived will be sold in Chennai and Andhra Pradesh who have raised a demand and the rest in Delhi and Mumbai.

“We have chose to create a buffer stock of 40,000 tonnes of tur and urad dals”.

Earlier this week, an inter-ministerial group, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, chose to create a buffer stock of pulses preferably through imports.

The government, which so far used Rs 170 crore from Rs 450-crore price stabilisation fund, will use Rs 200 crore to buy pulses this year that includes purchase by the Food Corporation of India at the minimum support prices, an official said.

The government has imported 5,000 tonnes of tur dal through state-owned MMTC. “Through Nafed, we will buy 30,000 tonnes of tur and 10,000 tonnes of urad at market rate from farmers”, Balyan said, adding the Nafed would start procuring kharif pulses from the next month onwards.

In a desperate bid to bring down the spiraling prices of pulses, the government today ended all exemptions on stock limits of pulses for exporters, food processors and large retailers, departmental stores with multiple outlets.

Cooperative Nafed will be given funds from the PSF, managed by the Agriculture Ministry, to buy pulses. Balyan’s statement on shortage of arhar supply across world comes on the back of government data which show that its import was 1.26 lakh tonnes during 2014-15 against 3.17 lakh tonnes during the previous year.

The ministry said that the Cabinet Secretary has also been reviewing the price situation on a daily basis.

The Minister said that there was an additional shortfall of two million tonnes of pulses this year as production last year was 17.38 million tonnes as against 19.20 million tonnes in 2013-14. The retail costs of tur dal have gone up to Rs one hundred ninety per kilogram from Rs eighty five per kg a yr in the past in most elements of the nation.

Similarly, urad dal prices rose to almost Rs 190 per kg from Rs 100 per kg in the year-ago period.