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India imported 1.61 million tonnes of pulses worth Rs 4,542.29 crore in the first seven months of this fiscal, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
The country had imported 3.51 million tonnes of pulses worth Rs 9,813.37 crore in the corresponding period of the 2009-10 fiscal, Food Minister Mr K V Thomas said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
“During 2010-11, during April-October, a quantity of 1.61 million tonnes of pulses has been imported at a value of Rs 4,542.29 crore,” he added.
Mr Thomas pointed out that although the estimated production of pulses for the current year is higher than the last year, it still falls short of the estimated demand, which would necessitate imports.
According to second advance estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry last month, pulses output is expected to increase by 16.51 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year from 14.66 million tonnes in the previous year. Domestic demand is pegged at 18-19 million tonnes during the crop year.
“To the extent domestic availability meets larger proportion of demand, the share of import requirement to that extent will be lower,” Mr Thomas said when asked whether pulses imports would be lower in view of the bumper harvest.
Since India annually imports about 15 per cent of its pulses requirements, he said global prices would have an impact on domestic prices, as the country is the largest consumer and importer in the world.
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