Price worry: Import duty on chana nixed; more time to ship in yellow pea
Chana ruling higher than MSP because of lower production in key producing areas
With prices of pulses showing no signs of cooling, the Centre has taken further steps to boost supplies by removing the import duty on chana (Bengal gram) and extended the import window for yellow peas till October 31. Chana, or chickpea, attracted an import duty of 66 per cent.
Through an extraordinary gazette notification issued on Friday night, the government announced the reduction of import duty on desi chana to nil, which will come into eect from Saturday, May 4, and also the extension till end October of the import window for yellow pea, which is used as a substitute for chana.
In early April, the government extended the duty-free import of yellow peas by two months to June 30. Anticipating a shortfall in chana output, the government had in December allowed duty-free import of chana till March 31, and subsequently extended it till April 30.
Chana prices have been ruling higher than the minimum support price (MSP) of ₹5,440 per quintal by 10-15 per cent across key producing regions in Central India, mainly on account of lower production due to a dip in acreage. As per the second advance estimate, the chana crop size for 2023-24 is seen at 121.61 lakh tonnes (lt), marginally lower than the previous year’s 122.67 lt.
The bullish trend in the chana prices has made it tough for government agencies to procure pulse crops at MSP for the buer stock. As per the procurement data on the Nafed portal, the chana purchases stood at 765 tonnes in the current season.
‘NOT A GOOD MOVE’
Stating that the latest change in policy was not a good move, Bimal Kothari, chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), said it will help pulses growers and exporters of Russia, Canada and Australia. “The cheaper imports will hurt the interest of Indian farmers and future crop prospects. Import is not an issue, but the government should have levied a duty on yellow peas so that the landing cost is close to the minimum support price of chana,” he said.
Kothari said the new yellow pea crop that will be harvested from July onwards in Russia, Canada and some European countries is estimated to be around 9 mt. IPGA, which was expecting some 1.8 mt of yellow pea imports till June-end, feels the imports will be more from the bigger new crop.
Chana exports from Australia to India after the removal of duty are likely to be around 1.5-2 lt, Kothari said. However, Australia will harvest new chana crop in November, just around the time of chana sowing in India which may impact the sentiment here, Kothari said.
“The duty reduction on chana is a welcome step, but from the farmers’ view it is not good as they were getting a good price after a long time. As about 70 per cent of the crop has already arrived in the market, only those farmers who were holding their produce may get aected,” said Rahul Chauhan of Igrain India.
While India has been importing chana from least developed countries like Tanzania at zero duty, other major producers like Australia was unable to export due to the hefty duty, Chauhan said. India’s chana imports are likely to have more than doubled to 1.49 lt during 2023-24 over same period in previous year’s 59,255 tonnes.
The overall pulses production, as per the second advance estimates for 2023-24, is seen lower at 234.42 lt compared to the previous year’s 260.58 lt. This is mainly on account of shortfall in production of urad, moong and chana.