Lok Sabha Question No. 3430 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-06
Subject: Import of Pulses
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS, RAVNEET SINGH, SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNPURIA, PASHUPATI NATH SINGH, ANURAG SINGH THAKUR, GOKARAJU GANGA RAJU, KANWAR SINGH TANWAR, ADVOCATE NARENDRA KESHAV SAWAIKAR, BANSHILAL MAHTO

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3430

TO BE ANSWERED ON 6. 12.201 6

## IMPORT OF PULSES

3430. SHRI  RAMDAS  C.  TADAS:  SHRI RAVNEET  SINGH:  SHRI  SUKHBIR  SINGH JAUNAPURIA: SHRI PASHUPATI NATH SINGH: SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR: DR. GOKARAJU GANGA RAJU: SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR: ADV. NARENDRA KESHAV SAWAIKAR: DR. BANSHILAL MAHATO:

(OIH)

## Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken a decision to increase buffer stock of pulses in v of their increasing prices and declining production and if so, the details thereof along with  the  norms  fixed  by  the  Government  regarding  procurement  prices  of  pulses  fo buffer stock;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  imported  pulses  owing  to  the  shortage  in  production thereof and i f so, the details thereof along with the reasons for decline in the produ of pulses in the country;
- (c) the details of imports made in the last three years and the agencies which have assigned with the job of importing pulses and sugar from abro ad and the time by which the said imported pulses and sugar are likely to be made available in the market;
- (d) whether  the  Government  plans  to  distribute  the  imported  pulses  and  other  items  l sugar from Post Offices and if so, the details thereof and t he time by which the plan is going to be operationalise; and
- (e) whether the Government is formulating any scheme/action plan to address the presen shortfall in the production of pulses so as to increase the production and availab pulses and chec k their rising prices and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lhvkjpkS/kjh½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION ( SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY )

*****

- (a) Yes Madam. Government has approved creation of buffer stock of upto 20 lakh tonnes of pulses through domestic procurement and imports. The pulses for the buffer are procure market price if the prevailing market price is above Market Support Price (MSP) and at MSP if market price is below MSP.

## ORIGINAL IN HINDI

(b) Government  imported  approximately  21.12  lakh  tonnes  of  pulses  during  2006 - 07  to 2010- 11  under  the  15%  Subsidy  scheme.  In  addition  5,000  MT  of  Tur  dal  was  imported  in 2015. During 2016, Government has contrac ted for import/imported 4.06 lakh tonnes of pulses as on 30.11.2016.

The decline in production of pulses in recent years is due to various factors which alia included adverse weather conditions, drought, unseasonal rains, lower crop area etc.

(c ) Details  of overallimport  of  pulses  and  sugar including  by  private  sector  and government agencies is given in the table below :

Import of pulses and sugar (in MT)

| YEAR                     |   PULSES |   SUGAR |
|--------------------------|----------|---------|
| 2013- 14                 |  3643713 |  880956 |
| 2014- 15                 |  4584852 | 1538635 |
| 2015- 16                 |  5797706 | 1943125 |
| 2016- 17 (Upto Oct 2016) |  2748473 | 1104847 |

Source: DGCIS

For building the buffer stock of up to 20 lakh tonnes, Government through MMTC and STC  has  contracted  for  import/imported  4.06  lakh  tonnes  during  the  2016 - 17  out  of  which 81,985 metric tonnes of pulses have already arrived in the country. Release of pulses from th buffer stock is made by Government depending on their price and availability situation.

In case of sugar, Central Government has neither imported sugar on its own nor assig any agenc y to import sugar during last three sugar seasons.

(d) No plan specific to distribution of imported pulses and other items like sugar throug Offices is under consideration at present.

(e) In  order  to  increase  production  of  pulses,  Government is  implementing  several  Crop Development  Schemes/Programmes  such  as  National  Food  Security  Mission - Pulses  (NFSMPulses), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA) and  Integrated  Scheme  of  Oilseeds,  Pulses,  Oil  Palm  &  Maize (ISOPOM).  National  Food Security Mission was further strengthened from 1.4.2010 with the merger of pulses compone of ISOPOM. In addition, 'Accelerated Pulses Production Programme (A3P)' was started under NFSM  in  2010- 11  to  take  up  active  propagation  of key  technologies  in  the  form  of  block demonstrations for improving productivity of pulses.

The measures taken to moderate the rising prices of pulses are given at the Annexure .

## ANNEXURE

STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (e) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3430 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 6.12.2016 REGARDING IMPORT OF PULSES

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## Measures Taken by the Government to moderate rising pric es of pulses are:

- I. Export of all pulses is banned except kabuli channa and up to 10,000 MTs in organ pulses and lentils.
- II. Import of pulses are allowed at zero import duty.
- III. Stock limit on pulses extended till 30.9.2017.
- IV. MSP raised for kharif pulses of 2 016- 17 for Tur, Urad and Moong as well as for Rabi pulses of Gram and Masoor for season 2016 - 17.
- V. Government has released around 48,660.285 MT of pulses from the buffer stock to th States or through Central Agencies at subsidized rates for retailing at rea sonable rates to improve availability and stabilize prices.
- VI. Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has banned new contracts in Chana to dampen  speculative  activities  in  Chana  and  in  respect  of  running  contracts  in  Ch disallowed taking fresh positi ons to reduce speculative activities.
- VII. Strict vigilance by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to prevent importers from -using the facilities of Customs Bonded Warehouse facility.
- VIII. Setting up of a Group of Officers for regular monitoring and exchange of information on hoarding, cartelization etc.
- IX. About 1.40 lakh tonnes pf pulses seized from 14612 raids and disposed of 1.28 la tonnes either by auction or other means permitted under EC Act, 1955.