New Delhi: In a major decision to curb the rising food prices, particularly of edible oils and pulses, the Union government Tuesday extended the import of Tur and Urad under the free category for another year.
Under the notification issued on Tuesday evening, Indian importers can continue to import Tur and Urad till March 31, 2023 to meet the domestic demand. Officials said the decision will ensure seamless import of these pulses to augment the domestic availability and ensure affordable rates for consumers.
Free import to augment domestic supply
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution dubbed the decision as yet another proactive and pre-emptive measure by the government to augment the domestic availability of these two commodities.
“It will augment and stabilize prices of essential food commodities, the Centre today notified the decision to keep the import of Tur and Urad under ‘Free category’ till March 31, 2023,” the ministry said in a statement.
Officials said the decision has put to rest the speculations regarding the import policy regime for Tur and Urad in the coming financial year, beginning in April this year and ending in March next year (FY 2022-23). “It also signals a stable policy regime which will benefit all the stakeholders,” they said.
“The measure will ensure seamless import of these pulses to augment the domestic availability. It is expected that sufficient availability of these pulses will make them available to the consumer at affordable prices,” said the government.
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In order to deal with the shortage of Tur, Urad and Moong Dals (pulses) in the country, the government had allowed the import of these pulses under the free category in May last year. The free category import of these three pulses was valid till October last year.
However, the government had further extended this free import regime for two of these three pulses – Tur and Urad – for another five months. According to officials, this policy measure has been supported with facilitation measures and close monitoring of its implementation by the concerned departments and organizations.
Moderate decline in retail prices
As per the latest official data released by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), the All India Average Retail Price of Tur Dal as reported was Rs 102.99 per kilogram on Monday (March 28, 2022), which is a drop of 2.4% from the price of Rs. 105.46 per kilogram on the same day last year, i.e. March 28, 2021.
Similarly, the All India Average Retail Price of Urad Dal as reported was Rs 104.3 per kilogram as on Monday (March 28, 2022), which is 3.62% less than the price of Rs 108.22 per kilogram on the same day a year ago.
