Govt to import 6.5 lakh tons of pulses

June 18, 2016 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

As many people already experienced, the price of pulses is soaring high. It has become a burden to many people. In order to combat this, the government ordered import of 6.5 lakh tons of pulses. This is the highest amount of pulses ordered so far. Furthermore, the government is also planning to lease land in Mozambique to grow pulses.

In order to combat the soaring prices, the consumer affairs ministry asked states to resort to any method necessary. The ministry asked the states to keep the prices below Rs. 120 a kg in any way possible.

Orders were given to shipping ministry to keep strict watch to prevent hoarding of pulses landing at ports.

If this isn’t enough, the government is also willing to give more funds to ensure procurement. The decision to import was taken after finance minister Arun Jaitley conducted a meeting to deal with the increasing prices of vegetables and food items.

Consumer affairs secretary Hem Pandey gave a statement that government approved import of 3 lakh tonnes green lentil, 2 lakh tonnes yellow peas, 1 lakh tonne red lentil and 20,000 tons of arhar and urad each.

He also said that two teams will be soon visiting Myanmar and Mozambique. The teams would inspect and finalize long-term supply contracts. The contract is most likely to happen soon as the African country is also interested in entering into long-term contracts with India.

Pandey also said that the government is planning to lease land in Mozambique to grow pulses. It is expected that the prices of tomatoes would remain high for another two and half months. Analysis of price trends in the past four years show that rates shoot up in two phases – June to August and October to November.

Latest government figures peg the country’s tomato production at 18.28 million tonnes in the 2015-16 crop year (July-June) against last year’s 16.38 million tonnes. But crop damage has impacted supply and the government may have to revise the estimate. The government is trying a lot to control the prices of pulses. Even FM radio channels are being used to spread awareness.

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