NEW DELHI, Aug 25: To cushion the impact of price rise, the Centre will provide states a subsidy of Rs 10 per kg on imported tur dal (pigeon peas), a senior Government official said today.
Tur dal is being imported at Rs 77 per kg and the Centre will make it available to states at Rs 67 a kg, giving a subsidy of Rs 10 per kg.
“The imported tur dal will start reaching India from September 1 and the total 5,000 tonnes of the pigeon peas will arrive by September 15,” Avinash Srivastava, Additional Secretary, the Department of Agriculture, said.
The Centre is also planning to import 5,000 tonnes of urad dal at Rs 86 per kg from the first week of October, Srivastava added.
He also informed that the Centre is spending about Rs 81 crore from the Price Stabilisation Fund on import of both these pulses.
State-run MMTC had floated tenders for importing 5,000 tonnes of tur and urad dal after the prices of both the pulses rose by more than 60 per cent in the first week of July.
The retail prices of most pulses including tur had crossed Rs 100 per kg following a supply crunch due to a decline in domestic production.
Total production of pulses is estimated to have fallen to 17.38 million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) from 19.25 million tonnes in the previous year due to deficient monsoon and unseasonal rains. (PTI)
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