Government imposed 10% duty on import of chickpea from April
According to the notification issued by the central government, 10% import duty on gram will be effective from April 1
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In view of the good production in the country, the central government has decided to impose 10 percent import duty on gram. With this, the duty-free import of gram from May, 2024 will end. This move of the government has also raised hopes of stopping the duty-free import of yellow peas. Recently, the central government had extended the period of duty-free import of yellow peas till 31 May 2025 while 11 percent import duty was imposed on lentils.
According to the notification issued by the central government, 10% import duty on gram will be effective from April 1. Duty-free import was started in view of the shortage of pulses in the country. This year there are signs of improvement in the production of pulses and it has been decided to impose 10 percent import duty on gram to prevent the fall in prices. India mainly imports gram from Australia and Tanzania. According to the second advance estimate released by the Ministry of Agriculture, the production of gram in Rabi season 2024-25 is estimated to be 115.35 lakh tonnes, which is about five lakh tonnes more than last year. This year, the area of gram sowing has increased by about four percent to 99.41 lakh hectares as compared to last year. With the arrival of new Rabi crop in the markets, the prices of gram have come down below the MSP of Rs 5650 per quintal in many places.
Duty-free import of pulses affects the prices of pulses in the domestic market and farmers are not able to get the right price for their produce. It is expected that the imposition of 10 percent import duty on gram will protect the domestic farmers from the blow of cheap imports.
India is the world's largest pulses producer, consumer and importer. India imports about 15-20 percent of its pulse requirement every year, i.e. about 60-70 lakh tonnes of pulses annually.
To achieve self-sufficiency in pulses, the Central Government has announced the Pulses Mission in the budget 2025-26. Efforts are being made to increase the purchase of pulses from farmers at MSP through central agencies.
