Pulse prices set to come down from today

Bhubaneswar: After reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on pulses from 5% to 1%, the prices of pulses are likely to come down by Rs 4 or 5 per kg from Friday, the Federation of All Odisha Traders Association (FAOTA) informed media persons on Thursday.

“Consumers will get pulses at Rs 4 to 5 less per kg than the prevailing rate. The State government, which used to earn Rs 39 crore revenue from pulses earlier, would now get around Rs 60 per annum. The traders will do their business in a more transparent manner,” FAOTA secretary Sudhakar Panda said.

Notably, the State Cabinet, presided over by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, had approved a proposal to reduce VAT on pulses from 5% to 1% three days ago.

“The objective behind the reduction of VAT on pulses of all kinds is to control the prices in the market and also to avoid strike by traders,” Chief Secretary A P Padhi had told reporters after the meeting.

Admitting that pulse prices had reached an all-time high due to a fall in production due to drought in large parts of the country, Padhi had stated this was one of the ways the state government had sought to control prices in the market.

Abolition of VAT on pulses was a long standing demand of the traders. Production of pulses has been declining during the last few years due to variation in climatic conditions in parts of the country due to delayed monsoon. This has led to high prices of dals of all kinds in the country.