Amid persistently high inflation, the Centre, on December 22, further extended the exemption given to masur dal by one year, as per an order issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
This exemption, effective since October 2021, will now last until March 31, 2025, as opposed to the earlier notification of March 31, 2024.
India's food inflation surged to 8.7 percent in November, up from 6.61 percent in October. The inflation rate on pulses was recorded at 20 percent in November, according to data available from the Statistics Ministry.
High food inflation has been a key concern for the government. The Centre has already extended its free grain distribution programme, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, by five years to 2028, providing 5 kg of grains monthly to impoverished households.
Additionally, it has taken various administrative steps to stabilize the prices of essential items like sugar, rice, pulses, vegetables, and edible oils.
Even though masur dal has shown no inflation, with retail costs down by 1.4 percent on the year and 0.97 percent month on month, as per data provided by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, the government, as per a senior government official, has taken the step "to bring down overall prices of pulses as the prices move in tandem for all of them together."
"We are focusing on bringing down prices of all pulses, especially tur. If the availability of other pulses increases, inflation in tur will go down too," the official said.
Tur prices have remained high in the past year due to a shortfall in domestic production. However, the government’s measures have started taking effect, and prices of tur fell to Rs 154 per kg on December 18 from Rs 156.5 a month ago.
The government on December 8 also exempted yellow peas (tur) from import duties until the end of this financial year, removing minimum import prices and port restrictions to facilitate trade.
Anticipating a shortfall in the current year due to erratic weather, the Centre in January extended the duty-free import policy for tur & urad until March 31, 2024.
Additionally, the government on June 2 allowed traders to keep only limited stocks of tur and urad. Following this step, the government released tur from the national buffer stocks to arrest the price rise.
The government launched chana dal under the packaging of ‘Bharat Dal’ at subsidized prices of Rs 60 per kg throughout the country, intending to shift consumption for those who cannot afford expensive arhar or tur dal.
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