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Informist, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025

 

By Pallavi Singhal

 

NEW DELHI – An inter-ministerial discussion has begun within the government of India on whether to extend the memorandum of understanding with Myanmar to import urad beyond the current financial year, a senior government official told Informist. This comes amid concern about a likely drop in India's urad output and Myanmar's projection of a record crop. Myanmar has been pushing for the memorandum to be extended since February.

 

"Inter-ministerial consultations on the topic have begun, but the final decision is yet to be taken," the official said, referring to the Open General Licence-based memorandum of understanding that allows annual duty-free imports of 250,000 tonnes of urad and 100,000 tonnes of tur from Myanmar.

 

Though the memorandum provides certainty to growers in Myanmar, the official noted that the pact has had limited operational relevance in recent years because India has kept both urad and tur in the free-import category. "From 2021, urad and tur have been continuously under the free category. The MoU doesn't have much meaning... unless we stop importing," he said.

 

India imported over 700,000 tonnes of urad from Myanmar in the financial year 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), much higher than the 250,000 tonnes sanctioned under the memorandum, the official said. India's urad imports from Myanmar accounted for 87% of its total urad imports of 820,000 tonnes in FY25.

 

Myanmar is almost entirely dependent on India for urad and tur exports, a linkage that has made the memorandum of understanding an anchor for its farming economy. While Indian officials argue that the country's free-import status on the legume with all countries already ensures adequate inflows, Myanmar's government believes the formal pact offers stability that guides the planting decisions of the country's farmers.

 

Myanmar has been vocal about the need to extend the agreement to export urad to India. In an earlier conversation with Informist, Tin Htut, deputy minister in Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture, had said the memorandum gives Myanmar's farmers confidence to continue cultivating pulses. "India is Myanmar's biggest market for pulses. We started growing pulses at such scale for the country (India). If the agreement lapses and India reduces imports, our farmers would likely shift to other crops such as soybean or sunflower. This may later become a problem for India in not-so-good years when they need to import again," Htut had said.

 

Myanmar's urad production is projected to hit a record 2.1 million tonnes in FY26, up from 1.8 million tonnes last year and 1.4 million tonnes in FY24. The country's tur output is also expected to rise modestly to 515,000 tonnes. Htut had said exports to India will likely remain near last year's levels as acreage and cropping patterns have remained steady.

 

The push to review the memorandum coincides with fresh concern over India's domestic crop. Excessive rainfall in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and parts of Rajasthan this year have raised fears of sizable damage to the urad crop during the pod-formation stage.

 

Trade and official estimates suggest urad production in the 2025 kharif season could fall to 900,000 tonnes–1.2 million tonnes, down from 1.3 million tonnes recorded a year ago. The senior government official said the quality issues relating to the current kharif crop could restrict marketable supply even if gross output improves later. Adding to the concern, the agriculture ministry's latest rabi sowing report shows urad acreage has fallen over 19% to 79,000 hectares, indicating that the rabi crop is unlikely to compensate for losses from the kharif season.

 

India needs 26–27 million tonnes of pulses annually but produces only around 24 million tonnes. Demand is projected to rise to 40 million tonnes by 2030. The Union Budget for FY26 had announced an outlay of INR 10 billion for the mission to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses. Despite this, erratic weather, stagnant yields, and rising consumption continue to widen the gap in key pulses such as urad and tur, making import partnerships and duty-free import regimes necessary.  End

 

Edited by Nishant Maher

 

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