Govt's import move fails to curb pulses price

It seems the central government's decision to import additional 1.5 million tonne pulses during the next eight months to rein in prices has not served the purpose.

According to minister of information and broadcasting Priyanranjan Dasmunsi, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs had given its approval to import 1.5 million tonne pulses through public sector agencies to stabilise the prices in the market.

The government has also asked Nafed, STC and MMTC to formulate market-wise and month-wise plan for importing pulses. The PSUs will be qualified for subsidy not exceeding 15 per cent without benchmarking lowest level of loss.

According to the minister, imports will include 0.75 million tonne of urad, masur moong and toor. Moreover, the government has decided to import 0.75 million tonne of yellow peas and other pulses.

However, on Friday the markets did not show any change in the prices of pulses. The near month futures of chana and masoor (the two commodities currently being traded on commodity exchanges) closed almost flat.

Chana's contract for April delivery on National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange closed at Rs 2,417 a quintal against the previous close of Rs 2,420 - down by 0.12 per cent. Masoor remained unchanged at Rs 2,710 a quintal.

May futures of chana surged by around 1 per cent to Rs 2,455 a quintal from the previous close of Rs 2,432. Similarly, May contract for masoor went up by Rs 5 to Rs 2,730

a quintal.

Market analysts also did not foresee major changes in pulses due to imports. The market will stick to fundamentals which at present appears only bullish, though some experts, despite reservations, expected some decline next week.

According to them, prices were increasing in the overseas market following the government's announcement to import

In the Delhi spot market, Burmese Lemon Tur remained steady at Rs 2,450 a quintal, while chana was slightly bullish at Rs 2,350- Rs 2,375 a quintal against the previous day's close of Rs 2,350 a quintal. Urad was quoted at Rs 2,950 a quintal.

In Latur, a pulses production centre in Maharashtra, spot prices of tur were affected for a short time. According to traders, the spot market fell by Rs 100 to Rs 2,400 a quintal.

Indore market saw some fluctuation in chana when spot prices rose to Rs 2,470 after the announcement of imports. But on Friday, prices came down to the Rs 2,425 - 2,430 a quintal.

The Central government has been concerned over rising prices of the commodity even as it imported about 1.8 million tonnes of pulses in 2006-07. The customs duty on import of pulses has already been removed. The country is facing an estimated shortfall of 3.2 million tonnes of pulses.