Amid persistently high inflation, the Centre has extended the exemption given to tur and urad dal by another year, till March 2025, as per an order issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade. The order, a copy of which is available with Rural Voice, follows the government's recent decision to extend the import duty exemption for masur dal by one year to March 2025.
The development comes at a time when the country is experiencing high food inflation, which rose to 8.7 per cent in November, up from 6.61 per cent in October. Prices of pulses have seen an inflation of 20 per cent in November. Recently, the Centre had also extended the import duty exemption for masur dal by one year to March 2025.
Besides, the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana - the free grain distribution programme of the central government - was extended by five years to 2028. Under the provision of the scheme, impoverished households are provided 5 kg of grains on a monthly basis.
A drop in domestic production has led to a surge in tur prices in the past. Recently, the prices have stabilised from Rs 156.50 in November to Rs 154 per kg in December. Expecting a drop in domestic production, the central government extended the duty-free import policy in January for tur and urad dal until March 31, 2024.
In October, it was estimated that tur and urad production might fall to their lowest levels in the last three years in this kharif season.
The production of tur in the 2023 kharif season is seen around 3.22-3.27 million tonnes, as against 3.31 million tonnes in the 2022-23 season, a fall of around 2.7 per cent from last year, the analysis showed.
Urad production is seen about 1.5-1.6 million tonnes, as against last year's 1.77 million tonnes.