In a bid to control pulses prices that are inching close to ₹200/kg, the Centre on Wednesday said it has released 10,400 tonnes of tur and urad from its buffer stock for retail sale at a subsidised rate of ₹120/kg in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
The Centre has built a buffer of 50,000 tonnes by way of domestic procurement. It is in the processing of procuring 1 lakh tonnes of chana and masoor in the ongoing Rabi season.
“From our buffer stock, we have released 400 tonnes of tur and urad to Kendriya Bhandar and Safal outlets in Delhi. We have given them unmilled pulses. We have asked them sell at subsidised rate of not more than ₹120/kg after milling,” Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters.
Kendriya Bhandar, and Mother Dairy’s retail chain Safal, have informed they will sell tur and urad at subsidised rates via their retail outlets in the national capital from tomorrow, he added.
Paswan further said the Centre has released 2,000 tonnes of tur to Andhra Pradesh against the demand of 8,000 tonnes, while Telangana has also been given 2,000 tonnes of tur from the buffer stock against the demand of 15,000 tonnes.
In case of Tamil Nadu, the Centre has sanctioned 5,000 tonnes of urad against the demand of 10,000 tonnes, and 1,000 tonnes of tur has been released against the requirement of 2,000 tonnes.
Stating that pulses supplies are being augmented through buffer stock and imports, the Minister said the centre has contracted to import 26,000 tonnes of tur and urad so far this fiscal, of which 10,000 tonnes has already landed.
The Centre has also empowered States to impose stock limits on the pulses to ensure easy availability, he added.
Pulses’ prices have again started spiralling because of fall in domestic production due to back-to-back drought.
As per the Agriculture Ministry’s second estimate, pulses production is estimated at 17.33 million tonnes in 2015-16 crop year (July-June), marginally higher than the previous year’s production of 17.15 million tonnes.