More Stories

Informist, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025

 

By J. Navya Sruthi and Pallavi Singhal

 

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI – The government is considering reimposing import duties on both chana and yellow peas, a top government official said. "With the government's decision to work on making India self-reliant on pulses alongside the fact that policies so far have helped keep prices of the two commodities low, it is only just that the policy be looked at again," the official told Informist.

 

The government had removed the 50% import duty on yellow peas in December 2023 to control rising prices of both tur and chana as yellow pea is used as a substitute for both pulses. The government had removed the 66% import duty on chana in May 2024. 

 

To control pulses prices, the government allowed duty-free imports of chana till Mar. 31 and that of yellow peas till Feb. 28. With huge dumping of pulses in India, industry officials and market participants now expect the government to reimpose the duty on chana and yellow pea imports.

The government will likely get back the import duty on both chana and yellow peas as prices of chana are just above the minimum support price and tur are below in major trading hubs, Devendra Vora, a wholesale dealer at Navi Mumbai's Vashi market, said. "We are not importing chana, it is being dumped in India by other countries," he said. 

 

The minimum support price for chana is INR 5,650 per 100 kg and tur is INR 7,550 per 100 kg.

India Pulses and Grains Association Secretary Satish Upadhyay had in December said the association had requested the government to impose a 50% import duty on yellow peas as the domestic prices of the commodity are already low. However, the government extended the duty-free imports of yellow peas by two months till Feb. 28. 

Chana prices started falling due to rising imports from Australia and the availability of yellow peas. Further, higher acreage under the largest rabi pulse crop also brought down chana prices.

Chana imports rose 67.5% on year to 197,895 tonnes in Apr-Nov, according to data from the commerce ministry. The area sown under chana was 9.86 million hectares as of Jan. 27, up 2.8% from a year ago.

 

The import of yellow peas has skyrocketed to 1.57 million tonnes in Apr-Nov, up from a measly 0.19 tonnes in the same period last year. 

 

On Monday, prices of chana at Akola in Maharashtra were at INR 5,975-INR 6,000 per 100 kg. Prices of yellow peas ranged between INR 3,250 per 100 kg and INR 3,600 per 100 kg in major port cities in the country, according to the India Pulses and Grains Association.

 

The prices of tur fell below the minimum support price due to higher production during the kharif season and imports. According to the first advance estimates, kharif tur production is pegged at 3.5 million tonnes, up 2.9% on year. Imports of tur were 999,683 tonnes in Apr-Nov, up 83.3% on year, according to commerce ministry data. On Monday, prices of tur in Kalaburagi in Karnataka were INR 6,359-INR 8,035 per 100 kg. 

 

The government had on Jan. 21 extended duty-free imports of tur by another year till Mar. 31, 2026. Earlier, the government had allowed duty-free imports of the commodity till Mar. 31, 2025. 

 

Presenting the Budget for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) on Saturday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will launch a six-year mission for Atamanirbharta on pulses with a special focus on tur, urad, and masur. Central agencies such as National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. and National Co-operative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd. will procure these three pulses as much as offered from farmers who register with these agencies and enter into agreements. 

 

"Ten years ago, we made concentrated efforts and achieved near self-sufficiency in pulses. Farmers responded to the need by increasing the cultivated area by 50%. Since then, with rising incomes and better affordability, our consumption of pulses has increased significantly," the minister said.  End

 

Edited by Saji George Titus 

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000 /+91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.