The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to extend stockholding limits on traders of pulses, edible oils and oilseeds by one year till September 30, 2017, to check hoarding and control price rise. The stockholding limits on these commodities, imposed under the Essential Commodities Act, were set to end on October 1, 2016.

“The main objective of the decision is to enable State Governments to issue control orders with the prior concurrence of Central Government, for fixing stock limits/licensing requirements in respect of pulses, oilseeds and edible oils, whenever need is felt by them,” said an official statement.

About 10 days ago, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had also approved a proposal to spend Rs 18,500 crore for increasing the buffer stock for pulses up to 20 lakh tonnes. “The buffer stock will be built through domestic procurement and imports of 10 lakh tonnes each,” Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had said.

The Cabinet decisions come at a time when retail prices of pulses continue to rule high, even as wholesale prices have shown a decline. For instance, arhar wholesale is selling at Rs 111/kg but is being sold at Rs 119/kg at the retail level, urad wholesale was available at Rs 122/kg, but its retail price is Rs 130/kg. The Food Ministry feels this needs to be checked as the “ideal gap between wholesale and retail price should be between 0-15 per cent.”

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