There is a possibility of a good increase in the import of yellow peas due to the increase in the period of duty free import.
16-Sep-2024 01:18 PM
Mumbai. With the aim of curbing the rising prices of pulses in the domestic sector, the Central Government has increased the period of duty free import of yellow peas by two months.
Earlier its time limit was fixed till 31 October, which has now been extended to 31 December 2024.
Although there has been a good increase in the production of pulses in the country in recent years, but still the dependence on imports is increasing because the total production is not enough to meet the domestic demand and need.
India remains the largest producer, consumer and importer of pulses in the world. Here, except moong, all other major pulses are being imported in large quantities from abroad, which also includes lentils, tuvar and urad.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), a subordinate body of the Union Ministry of Commerce, has recently issued a notification announcing the extension of the time limit for duty-free import of yellow peas by two months.
Top producing and exporting countries like Canada and Russia are receiving a strong inflow of new consignments of yellow peas and with the extension of the duty-free import deadline in India, its import may continue in the coming months.
First of all, duty-free import was allowed till 31 March 2024 from December 2023 and then its deadline was extended first till June and then till October 2024. Prior to that, a basic import duty of 50 per cent was imposed on yellow peas from November itself.
Although the domestic production of pulses increased from 163 lakh tonnes to 245 lakh tonnes in the 2023-24 season as compared to the year 2015-16, its use also jumped to 270 lakh tonnes.
To bridge this gap, more than 45 lakh tonnes of pulses were imported in 2023-24, which cost a huge foreign exchange of $3.74 billion. Pulses are imported into India mainly from Myanmar, Canada, Australia, Russia and many African countries.
Earlier, there was a basic import duty of 60 percent on the import of gram (desi), but it was withdrawn in May 2024.
With this, now duty-free import of lentils, tuvar, urad, yellow peas and desi gram has started in the country. Huge import of yellow peas has already taken place, while it is expected to increase further.