Arhar Mahadev! Dal prices hit Rs 210 per kg; govt recovers 36,000 t from hoarders, blames states

Dal prices rose to a record high of Rs 210 per kg sending the government into fire fighting mode. About 36,000 tonnes of pulses have been recovered from hoarders and this will be pushed into the market to cool prices.

Prices have shot up after a season of deficient rainfall which sank total output by 2 million tonnes.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley blamed the states for not doing enough to crack down on hoarders and black marketeers.

Jaitely said 5,000 tonnes of imported pulses have already arrived and are being distributed to the states and another 3,000 tonnes are on the way.

In New Delhi, imported tur dal (pigeon peas) is being sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 120 per kg at nearly 500 outlets of Kendriya Bhandar and Safal.

A maximum of 23,340 tonnes was seized in Maharashtra, followed by 4,525.19 tonnes in Chhattisgarh, 2,546 tonnes in Telangana, 2,295 tonnes in Madhya Pradesh, 1,168 tonnes in Haryana, 859.8 tonnes in Andhra Pradesh, 479.6 tonnes in Karnataka, 68.47 tonnes in Rajasthan, 4.32 tonnes in Tamil Nadu and 2.44 tonnes in Himachal Pradesh, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said.

The Centre has also asked the Haryana state cooperative supply and marketing federation Ltd. to buy pulses from the open market and sell thought its outlets in the state.

In Uttarkhand, mandi samitis have opened retail outlets in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar for selling tur dal at Rs.145 per kg. The state government has also been directed to distribute pulses at the fixed rate through ration shops.

In Tamil Nadu, the government is selling ‘urad’ at Rs.30 per kg.

The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments are distributing red gram at Rs.50 per kg.

Following action against hoarding in some states, ’tur’ prices declined marginally on Wednesday to Rs.205 per kg from Rs.210 on Tuesday in retail markets.

Prices of ‘moong’, ‘masoor’ and ‘chana’ also showed a slight decline to Rs.130, Rs.110 and Rs.82 per kg respectively, while ‘urad’ rates remained unchanged at Rs.198 on Wednesday, government data showed.

IANS