Import of pulses jumped 73 percent to $ 2.18 billion during the first half
18-Oct-2024 12:15 PM
New Delhi. Data released by the Union Commerce Ministry shows that the expenditure on the import of pulses in India during the first half of the current financial year i.e. April-September 2024 jumped to a high of $ 2.187 billion,
which was about 73 percent more than the import expenditure of $ 1.265 billion in April-September 2023. Pulses worth $ 425.78 million were imported in September 2024, which was 34.8 percent more than the import value of $ 31.589 billion in September 2023. It is understood that the import of tur, urad and gram increased during the first half.
According to trade analysts, a large quantity of pulses was imported from various countries during this period and its offer price was also high, which led to a huge increase in the expenditure.
However, in recent months, the pace of import of yellow peas along with lentils has also been somewhat slow because the situation of its supply and availability in the domestic sector is relatively better.
According to the available data, during the entire period (April-March) of the financial year 2023-24, the import cost of pulses had almost doubled as compared to 2022-23 to reach $ 3.74 billion, while in the first half of the current financial year itself, the total import cost has reached $ 2.187 billion.
The government had made the import of yellow peas duty free in December 2023 and Desi gram in May 2024, while tuvar, urad and lentil were already being imported duty free. This decision had to be taken due to the decline in domestic production.
According to Rahul Chauhan, Director, iGrain India, due to continuous weak production, there was a shortage of tur (tuvar) in the domestic sector, while on the other hand the demand continued to increase regularly.
To meet the gap between demand and supply, it became necessary to increase the import of pulses from abroad.
During the half year of April-September 2024, the import of tur is estimated to jump to around 6.09 lakh tonnes, which is more than double the import of 2.74 lakh tonnes during the same period last year.
Tuvar is imported into India mainly from Myanmar and East African countries - Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Sudan etc.
Heavy import of urad is also being done regularly from Myanmar, while lentils are being imported from Canada and Australia. The import of urad is estimated to increase from 2.40 lakh tonnes to 4.08 lakh tonnes.