Govt to crackdown on tur, urad dal hoarders as prices shoot up

First crackdown is expected in major pulses producers like Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat

Worried about the soaring prices of pulses amid the general elections, the Union government is planning to send senior officers to assess the ground situation in relation to stock disclosure of pulses, especially tur (pigeon pea) and urad (black matpe) beginning this week, two senior officials said.

The Centre fears that hoarding is taking place in anticipation of prices going up further.

The officials will visit warehouses, mills and mandis across the country to ascertain the ground reality. The first crackdown is expected in major pulses producing states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, one of the officials said.

“We are going to visit the entire country because we sense that trade entities are hoarding pulses,” the other official said.

“In the first round, we plan to visit five to seven states, including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat over this week from Monday. Although the move is aimed at all pulses, we will be focusing especially on tur, urad, yellow pea and chana (gram). The plan is to sensitise states, their machinery and stakeholders, visit mandis, premises of millers and importers and hold meetings with trade entities.” Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the Mode Code of Conduct amid the Lok Sabha elections.

The move is in line with the government’s effort to augment pulses supply and stabilize prices amid shortfall of some pulses, especially tur and urad, in the domestic market by allowing duty free imports of yellow peas from last December until June this year.

An import duty of 50% on yellow peas was first introduced in November 2017. However, as pulse prices rose, the Centre in early December 2023 allowed duty-free imports until March 2024 and later extended it till June. According to the second official, India so far has imported around 1.5 million tonnes of yellow peas since December. India largely imports yellow peas, used in place of chana, from Canada and Russia.

Queries sent to the agriculture ministry and the department of consumer affairs remained unanswered at press time.

The move is in line with the govt’s effort to augment pulses supply and stabilize prices amid shortfall of some pulses, especially tur and urad

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