India Pulses Import: 11.32 Lakh Tonnes in Apr-May 2024-25

New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) India has imported 11.32 lakh tonnes of pulses during the April-May period of this fiscal year to meet domestic demand, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday.

The country had imported 47.39 lakh tonnes of pulses in the entire 2023-24 fiscal.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya informed that 11.32 lakh tonnes of pulses have been imported till May in 2024-25 fiscal.

Import of pulses stood at 24.66 lakh tonnes in 2020-21; 27 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 and 24.96 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.

"The overall production of pulses in India is sufficient to meet the domestic demand. However, imports are required in certain pulses such as tur, urad and masur due to consumption preferences," she said.

The minister informed that buffer stock of pulses and onion have been maintained under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) for market interventions to stabilize the volatility prices.

"Currently, dynamic buffer stock of pulses namely, tur, urad, Moong, Masur and Gram are being maintained. The quantum of stock with the government also helped in deterring hoarding unscrupulous speculation by market players," she said.

Bharat Dal was launched in July, 2023 by converting chana stock in the PSF into chana dal for retail disposal to make dal available to consumers at affordable prices.

The Bharat Chana Dal is made available to the consumers at subsidized rates of Rs 60 per kg for 1 kg pack and Rs 55 per kg for 30 kg pack.

Over 11.37 lakh tonnes of Bharat Chana Dal has been sold to retail consumers till July 22, 2024.

The Bharat Dal has been extended to include Bharat Moong Dal by converting moong stock in the PSF buffer into moong Dal for retail sale to the consumers at subsidized prices of Rs 107/kg for moong dal and Rs 93/kg for Moong sabut.

Further, the Bharat Dal has also been extended to include masur dal by converting masur stock in the PSF buffer into masur dal for retail sale to the consumers at price of Rs 89 per kg.