New Delhi, March 9 : The Government has extended the duty-free import of yellow peas by three months till the end of May and clamped a duty of 10 per cent duty on imports of lentils (masur) with immediate effect, according to an official notification.
The government has imposed a 10 per cent import duty on lentils (mosur) and extended the duty-free import of yellow peas by three months till May 31 this year to increase domestic availability of the pulses and keep prices in check.
The government has levied a 5 per cent basic customs duty and 5 per cent Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on lentils with effect from Saturday.
The government has been tuning its tariff policy on pulses to keep inflation in check in the case of shortfalls and at the same encouraging domestic production.
The government had allowed the duty-free import of yellow peas in December 2023 to control local prices as the domestic production of ‘chana’ was falling short. This relaxation was extended from time to time till the end of February.
India’s yellow peas imports stood at 30 lakh tonnes out of 67 lakh tonnes of overall pulses imported during 2024.
The Centre has also been procuring pulses at MSP from domestic farmers after approval for the continuation of the integrated Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) Scheme during the 15th Finance Commission cycle up to 2025-26. The scheme is aimed to help farmers get higher prices for their produce.
The Government is committed to purchasing 100 per cent of Tur produced by farmers through central nodal agencies namely NAFED and NCCF, according to the official statement.
In order to incentivise the farmers to contribute to the enhancement of the domestic production of pulses and to reduce the dependence on imports, the Government has allowed the procurement of Tur, Urad and Masur under PSS equivalent to 100 per cent of the production of the State for the procurement year 2024-25.
The Government has also announced in Budget 2025 that procurement of Tur (Arhar), Urad and Masur up to 100 per cent of the production of the State will be continued for another four years through Central Nodal Agencies to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses in the country.
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently said the Centre has approved the procurement of Tur (Arhar) in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh under Price Support Scheme for the Kharif 2024-25 Season for a total quantity consolidating to 13.22 LMT.
–IANS