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In a bid to keep prices under check, the Government has decided to release tur from the national buffer in a calibrated manner until imported stocks arrive in the Indian market.
The Consumer Affairs Ministry has directed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) to dispose of tur through online auction to eligible millers to augment tur dal availability for consumers.
The quantities and frequency of auctions will be calibrated on the basis of how it impacts the availability of tur to consumers at affordable prices, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
Tur prices have firmed up in recent months following a shortfall in domestic supplies and a delayed monsoon. Weak rainfall has hit tur acreage by two-thirds at around 62,000 hectares till June 23 as compared to 1.80 lakh ha in the same period last year. The reduced sowing is mainly on account of poor rains n the key producing states of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Over the past month, tur dal has seen an average price increase of over Rs 8 per kg. As per the Consumer Affairs Ministry portal, the average retail price of tur dal across the country stood at Rs 129.4 per kg on Monday, June 26, as compared to Rs 121.24 on May 29. The highest retail price on June 26 was reported from Kollam at Rs 180 per kg as compared to Rs 152 on May 29. The lowest retail price was reported from Hnanthial in Mizoram at Rs 80 per kg, same as on May 29.
To boost supplies the Government has kept imports of tur and urad open till March 2024. It may be recalled that the Government had, on June 2, 2023, imposed stock limits on tur and urad by invoking the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, as also improve its affordability to consumers. Under this order, stock limits have been prescribed for tur and urad until October31, 2023, for all states and Union territories.
The stock limits applicable to each of the pulses individually are 200 tonnes for wholesalers; 5 tonnes for retailers; 5 tonnes at retail outlet; 200 tonnes at depot for big chain retailers; and last three months of production or 25 per cent of annual installed capacity, whichever is higher, for millers.
The implementation of the stock limit order and the status of stock disclosure on the portal are continuously monitored by the Department of Consumers Affairs and State governments. In this regard, data on the stocks held by various entities at the warehouses of the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs), stocks pledged by market players with banks, and so on have been cross-checked against the quantities declared on the stock disclosure portal, the statement said.
State governments are continuously monitoring the prices in their respective regions and verifying the stock positions of entities in order to act against violators.
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