Govt procures 62,178 tonnes of pulses for buffer stock

The government has procured over 62,000 tonnes of pulses to create buffer stock and contracted imports for 26,000 tonnes to increase domestic supply and check prices.

"Domestic procurement of pulses has been undertaken including from farmers. Till now, a total of 50,424.07 tonnes of tur and urad from kharif marketing season 2015-16 and 11,754.06 tonnes of chana and masur from rabi marketing season 2016-17 have already been procured," Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

In addition, imports have been contracted for about 13,500 tonnes of tur and 12,500 tonnes of urad, the Minister added.

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan have so far requested for allocation of pulses from buffer stock.

"There has been a strict vigilance by the government to prevent importers from misusing the facilities of Customs Bonded Warehousing facility. Domestic searches and surveys have also been conducted on a number of importers, traders and financiers engaged in pulses trade," Paswan said.

The country is estimated to have produced 17 million tonnes of pulses in the 2015-16 crop year as against the annual demand of 21-22 million tonnes. The shortfall is met through imports, largely by private traders.