Government of India’s continuous monitoring and policy decisions has led to the stability in the prices of pulses and onion. The Centre keeps a close watch on the production, imports, exports and availability of essential commodities through frequent interaction with importers, research agencies, trade associations, etc, said Shri Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary Department of Consumer Affairs during a media interaction here today.

In order to augment the buffer stock, the government has started procurement of 1.00 Lakh tons of imported Tur and 50,000 tons of imported Urad. At present, the Government of India has 43.82 Lakhs Tonne of buffer stock of various pulses under PSF and PSS. The Chana is allocated from this available Stock to the States at discounted price of Rs 8 per Kg over the issue prices for its distribution by the States/UT under various welfare Schemes. Till date, based on the Indent received from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, 88,600 MT of Chana has been allocated to these States.

In order to ensure smooth and seamless import of pulses to augment domestic availability, import of Tur and Urad has been kept under 'Free Category' till 31.03.2023. In respect of Masur, the basic import duty has been reduced to zero w.e.f. 27.07.2021 and the zero Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess w.e.f 13.02.2022 till 30.09.2022 has been extended till 31.03.2023.

The Department of Consumer Affairs on 12th August, 2022, issued a directive to all the states and UTs to enforce stock disclosure by stockholders of Tur under Section 3(2)(h) and 3(2)(i) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and also to monitor and verify the stocks. The states/UTs have also been asked to direct stockholder entities to upload the data of stocks held by them on the online monitoring portal of the Department of Consumer Affairs on weekly basis. Further, states have been requested to nominate the nodal officers to monitor the disclosure of tur stock by stockholders.

The Centre has built buffer stock of 2.50 LMT (Lakh Metric Tons) of onion during the Rabi 2022 harvesting period in a view to keep onion retail prices stable even during the lean arrival season. The release of Onion buffer is initiated to check the price rise and a quantity of 54,000 tons of Onion has been released to various Markets across 14 States/UTs from the National Onion Buffer Stock. This has resulted in stable onion prices all through the year. Further, to keep the onion retail prices stable, Government of India has offered onion to all the States/UTs and Mother Dairy, Safal, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar to lift onion from Central Buffer Stock at the rate of Rs 800 per quintal.

Due to continuous monitoring and policy decisions of Central Govt., all India average retail prices of major pulses have been fairly stable since starting of the year, except for normal seasonal price increases. All India average prices of Gram dal and Masoor dal have slightly declined over last month, whereas all India average price of Tur dal, Urad dal and Moong dal have been stable with marginal increase over same period. The all-India average retail price of onion has witnessed a significant decline of 28% compared to last year. 

Regular reviews by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) and Committee of Secretaries (CoS) to review the situation of essential commodities, their price trends and suggest measures to enhance availability by way of various policy interventions to keep prices stable by way of imports, increasing production, imposing stock limits, import export regulations, etc.

The Govt. of India has set up The Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) to tackle price volatility of essential commodities such as Pulses, onion and potato to protecting consumers’ interest while promoting direct purchase from farmers/farmers’ associations at farm gate/mandi. The Buffer stock of onion and pulses is maintained under PSF with the objective to moderate prices during the lean arrival season to ensure price stability. These interventions while protecting consumer interest would also help in sending the appropriate signals to market and regulate speculative and hoarding activities.

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, monitors prices of 22 essential commodities (Cereals, Pulses, Edible Oils, Vegetables and Others). To improve the quality of price data and analytical output thereof, the department has expanded the geographical coverage by increasing the number of price collection centres from 179 as on 1st January 2022 to 311 centres as on date. To improve the robustness of the price monitoring process, the department uses scientific models for predictive analytics and Scenario building models to develop information-based scenario.

Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during PM-KISAN Samman Sammelan 2022 (on17th October 2022), expressed delight at the 70% increase in pulse production and thanked the farmers, recalling his clarion call in 2015 regarding the production of pulses. “We will make agriculture attractive and prosperous in the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, the Prime Minister said and concluded his address by wishing the best to all the farmers and startups.

For more details, read here: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1868515

To view, click: https://t.co/kYkcDqG4OR

Earlier this week, in a pro-farmer initiative, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi Crops for Marketing Season 2023-24. Government has increased the MSP of Rabi Crops for Marketing Season 2023-24, to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce.  The absolute highest increase in MSP has been approved for lentil (Masur) at Rs.500/- per quintal.

For more details, read here: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1868760

To view the briefing on CCEA decisions, click: https://t.co/uYeXRAKXVt

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AD/NS