The Government on Saturday has restricted the import of toor (arhar) dal as there is a glut in the market. In a notification issued on Saturday, the Director General of Foreign Trade said it has decided to change the import policy on toor dal from “free” to “restricted”. However, the import of other pulses will continue to be allowed.

“Import (of toor dal) shall be subject to an annual quota of 2 lakh tonnes as per procedure to be notified. This restriction will not apply to Government’s import commitments under any bilateral/regional agreements,” the notification said.

The notification came at a time when the farmers have been demanding better price for pulses following a bumper production this year. The total production of pulses in the country in 2016-17 was a record 22.4 million tonnes, which was substantially higher than 16.35 million tonnes in the previous year.

The farmers failed to get a fair price for the produce as huge quantity of pulses the government imported last year worsened supply situation in the country.

As the prices of toor dal went up over Rs 200 last year, the Government imported 30 lakh tonnes of pulses, of which 20 lakh tonnes are still lying in the government warehouses.

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