The India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) on Monday opposed the government's decision to reduce basic customs duty on masur, saying the move will not benefit domestic consumers.
“It will not benefit any Indian stakeholders except the Canadian farmers, Canadian exporters, Australian farmers, Australian exporters and the multinational companies,” IPGA Vice Chairman Bimal Kothari said.
The government on Monday reduced the basic customs duty on imports of masur dal to zero and halved the agriculture infrastructure development cess (AIDC) on the lentil to 10 per cent, with an aim to boost supplies and cool the prices.
“We will not see the corresponding price reduction of 22 per cent on the prices of lentils. The price of lentils may merely reduce by Rs. 1 or Rs. 2 and not by Rs. 13 or Rs. 14,” Kothari said.
He said after the notification issued by the government, Canadian and Australian exporters have already increased the price by $75-80 per tonne.
“This policy is definitely not in the interest of the Indian consumer, the Indian farmer, Indian pulse trade and not even the government,” Kothari said.
Kothari said the government will lose substantial revenues due to the reduction in the import duty of masur dal.
“A similar policy was announced last year in 2020 and the import duty was reduced from 33 per cent to 11 per cent. IPGA brought to the attention of the Government of India, the demerits of such a policy and after 3 months it was increased back to 33 per cent. We urge the government to not to take such detrimental steps which will severely impact farmers, consumers and trade,” he said.
The government had introduced the AIDC on certain items, including petrol, diesel, gold and some imported agricultural products, this fiscal in a bid to boost agriculture infrastructure.
(Published 26 July 2021, 17:24 IST)
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