States to release 98K tons seized pulses in mkt from next week

New Delhi: Dal prices are expected to cool down further in the coming days as state governments will release over 98,000 tonnes of seized pulses in the open market from next week.

Retail prices of tur have fallen in metros and other cities like Bengaluru, Mysore, Mengaluru, Puducherry, Cuttack, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Kanpur.

In metros, tur dal was today selling at Rs 173-188 per kg and urad at Rs 140-160 per kg in retail markets, much below the peak of Rs 200-210 per kg last week, as per the data maintained by the Consumer Affairs Ministry.

Meanwhile, the daily monitoring of the price situation continued on Wednesday with Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha reviewing the evolving scenario.

"To make pulses available at reasonable prices, several states continued enforcement action against hoarding. Over 15,000 tonnes of pulses have been seized on October 28, taking the total quantity of pulses seized to over 98,000 tonnes," an official statement said.

Stating the action against hoarders will continue till prices moderate, a senior Consumer Affairs Ministry official said "the release of seized stocks in the open market from next week will help in further cooling down the prices".

At the same time, states continued with the arrangements to sell pulses at reasonable rates of Rs 120-140 per kg through retail distribution networks, the statement said.

"These two steps have had a salutary effect in improving the supply situation as well as in cooling down the prices of pulses both in the retail and wholesale markets," it added.

The state governments have reported that most of the seized stocks were imported dals hoarded for last 3-4 months, while some recovered pulses were also sourced locally.

Dal prices have risen across the country due to shortfall in domestic output by two million tonnes in 2014-15 due to poor rains. There is also a global shortage of lentils.