Centre asks state govts to monitor pulses stocks to check hoarding
The Centre has asked state governments to monitor stocks of pulses held by traders, who will need to declare quantities every week effective April 15, to check hoarding and inflation in lentils, a senior official has said.
States will have to verify stocks declared by stock-holding entities, such as big-chain retailers, according to the Centre’s order. Quantities in warehouses located in major ports and in pulses hubs should also be verified from time to time and “strict action should be taken on stockholding entities found to be reporting false information” on a stock disclosure portal created for the purpose, the Centre said in its directive.
Retail inflation in pulses remains high, although it slowed to 17.71% in March compared to a rise of 18.9% in February 2024, according to official data. Holding the repo rate steady, the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee on April 6 highlighted how food price pressures “have been interrupting the ongoing disinflation process, posing challenmonest ges for the final descent of inflation to the target of 4%”.
According to agriculture ministry’s estimates, the country’s output of pulses dipped to 23.4 million tonne in 2023-24 from 26.1 million tonne a year ago.
The stock-disclosure policy has been enforced to allow the Centre to know stock situation in the country as well as the scale and pace of imports, the official said.
India imported pulses worth $3.17 billion during April-February 2023-24 period, which is nearly 80% higher than the $1.76 billion for the corresponding 11 months of 2022-23.
Poor summer rainfall in Karnataka and Maharashtra during 2023 is a key reason for lower output of pulses. Pulses are the comsource of protein for most Indians. A campaign by the Modi government to ramp up domestic production saw total output jump 37% since 2015-16, according to official figures, helping to cut costly imports. Yet, the country still has to rely on foreign shipments to meet total demand.
Stock declaration through traders, millers, importers, and warehouses, which are both public and privately owned, will create a data bank, the official cited above said. “This will enable the government to understand which are the states that produce and stock for milling purposes. It will also help to keep a check on undesirable practices of hoarding and artificial scarcity creation through stock declaration and real-time verification of the same.”
Stock declaration will also allow authorities to foresee any shortfall of any particular pulses variety so that the government can act proactively to ensure smooth availability by way of “immediate imports or restricting exports or releasing stocks in the central buffer depending upon the situation”, the official said.