The Hindu Business Line : ‘Enter into bilateral pact to import edible items’

Mumbai, Nov. 10 The Pulses Importers Association (PIA) has said that Government agencies such as MMTC, STC, PEC and Nafed should consider reducing the minimum bid quantity for sale of imported pulses in the domestic market.

Mr K.C. Bhartia, President of association, said if the minimum bid quantity was reduced even small traders could participate and the commodity could reach even to remote villages. The possibility of single bidder cornering a major chunk of the auctioned pulses can also be avoided. The minimum bid size varies from 500 tonnes to 3,000 tonnes for different pulses.

Speaking at the launch of pulses contract at the National Spot Exchange Ltd, he said the Government should consider importing edible commodities by entering into an agreement with its counterparts in other countries instead of floating tenders.

Price projection

“Whenever India announces its intention to import pulses, prices in the international markets shoot up by 10-15 per cent.” Predicting pulses prices to remain high at the current levels, Mr Bhartia said instead of timing the market for a better price, the Government could release 50,000 tonnes of pulses in the market every month.

Offloading pulses through the newly-launched National Spot Exchange was also a better option for the nodal agencies, he felt. To encourage private companies to import more pulses, the Government could also consider providing a 15 per cent subsidy on the basis of bill of entry.

Stressing on the importance of warehousing facilities in villages, Dr S.K. Goel, Principal Secretary, Agriculture and Cooperation, Maharashtra, said the State was willing to provide Rs 20 crore for upgrading 1,000 warehouses in 1,400 places on a pilot basis.

“Warehouses need to be upgraded to the level of receiving accreditation from the national commodity exchanges as warehouse receipts offer short-term loans to farmers,” he said.

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