Eagerly awaiting the government's policy decision on pea import
30-May-2025 08:52 PM
New Delhi. Till November 2023, there was an undeclared ban on the import of yellow peas and other varieties and categories of peas from abroad in India.
Under this, its minimum import price was fixed at Rs 200 per kg at the cost of a hefty customs duty of 55 percent and permission was given to import it only at Kolkata port. As a result, peas were not being imported into the country.
But with the aim of increasing the supply and availability of pulses in the domestic sector and curbing the rise in prices, the government on 8 December 2023 completely exempted the import of yellow peas not only from customs duty but also from all other conditions and controls.
With that, massive import of yellow peas from other countries including Canada and Russia started in the country.
According to the available data, during the four months of the financial year 2023-24 i.e. from December 2023 to March 2024, about 11.70 lakh tonnes of yellow peas were imported in the country and during the entire period (April-March) of the financial year 2024-25, 21.45 lakh tonnes of yellow peas were imported.
Apart from this, about 29 thousand tonnes of yellow peas are expected to be imported in April 2025. In this way, during December 2023 to April 2025, a total of about 33.44 lakh tonnes of yellow peas were imported in the country.
Yellow peas are considered a better alternative to Desi gram. Due to its huge import, first the prices of gram and lentil started coming under pressure and then the prices of other pulses started falling.
At present, the wholesale market price of most pulses has come down to around or below the minimum support price.
Private and cooperative sector institutions are now demanding the government to change the policy of duty-free import of yellow peas.
Some organizations say that the customs duty and rules and conditions applicable before December 2023 should be reinstated on its import.
Other organizations suggest that if it is not possible to impose a ban on imports, then such a high customs duty must be imposed so that the import price becomes equal to the MSP of gram. The deadline for duty-free import of yellow peas is going to end on 31 May 2025 i.e. tomorrow, but no circular has been issued for this yet.
If no notification is issued by tomorrow, then naturally the rule will be considered applicable before December 2023. But it seems that an import duty of 10-15 percent can be imposed on yellow jamatar.