Pulses prices to fall, says Centre

The Centre on Tuesday said prices of pulses have begun sliding down in almost all states and would moderate further in days to come with arrival of the kharif crops in the market.

“On an average, prices across the country have declined by about Rs 20 per kg. With the ongoing market arrivals of urad dal and arrival of the new crop of arhar dal expected in early December, the prices will ease further” the government said in a statement here.

It said the supply situation would be further augmented when the several tonnes of pulses seized in the states come back into the retail market.

This came after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely held a meeting to review the prices of essential commodities ahead of the festive season.

The meeting was attended by Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan, principal secretary to the prime minister and the cabinet secretary besides secretaries of the departments of agriculture, food, consumer affairs, revenue and commerce.

At the meeting, Jaitley directed the secretaries of the departments of agriculture, food and consumer affairs to remain vigilant, work closely with the states and take immediate measures, including stepping up procurement of pulses, enhancing and building up of buffer stocks.

He also sought the officials to take “proactive steps” to hold the price line at reasonable levels and directed all the departments concerned to ensure that the common citizens enjoy access to adequate supplies of essential commodities in the ensuing months, “especially during the festive season”.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha also held a meeting with the chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh and UP through video-conferencing to review the progress of disposal of pulses seized in the de-hoarding operations.

Earlier at a press conference, Jaitley hoped to see fall in the prices of pulses in coming days as the international market had also begun stabilising. Jaitley, however, blamed the states for rise in the prices of pulses.

The moderation in prices of pulses began in most of the states only after the Centre cracked down on the hoarders and recovered large quantity of pulses, especially tur dal, he said.