The Centre has decided to raise the import limit on Tur Dal to four lakh tonne for private traders till October and asked co-operative Nafed to offload two lakh tonne of the lentil in the open market. A decision in this regard was taken at the inter-ministerial committee meeting chaired by Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in New Delhi yesterday.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Paswan said, the measure will help increase the availability of Tur Dal and check price rise, which has been created psychologically assuming production might fall on likely delay in monsoon rains. He rejected media reports about price rise in Tur Dal saying that the government has enough buffer stock of pulses.
The Minister said, the government has a buffer stock of 39 lakh tonne of pulses, of which Tur Dal is about 7.5 lakh tonne. He said, there will be a close watch on hoarders and black marketers of pulses, and the government will not allow anyone to cheat consumers. Secretaries of Food, Consumer Affairs and Commerce Ministries, as well as senior officials of Nafed and Directorate General of Foreign Trade, attended the meeting.
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