The government on Monday allayed fears about any potential spurt in the prices of pulses, onion and potato in the coming festive period, citing adequate monsoon rains, robust kharif sowing and liberal import of lentils.
Nidhi Khare, secretary, department of consumer affairs told FE that prices of potato and onion have been stable for the last several weeks while there has been a significant fall in tomato prices.
“The early harvest of potato from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand is expected to arrive in the market by early October while Kharif onion harvest is expected during the same time,” Khare said.
She said that the government is ready to liquidate around 0.47 million tonne (MT) of onion kept in the buffer “when there is a need.” Currently the modal retail prices of onion and potato are stable at Rs 35/kg and Rs 50/kg respectively according to official data.
So far, 0.22 million hectare (MH) of kharif onion has been sown, against 0.17 MH reported last year. The government has set a target of 0.36 MH for kharif onion this year, which is 27% more than 0.28 MH reported in 2023.
Inflation in onion and potato were 60.54% and 65.64% respectively in July on year because of lower production. According to the agriculture ministry, output of potato and onion in the 2023-24 crop year (July-June) is projected at 56.76 million tonne (MT) and 21.23 MT, a decrease of 6% and 20% respectively.
The retail tomato prices have moderated to Rs40/kg currently which rose sharply a month back of supply disruption due to rain and retail inflation in the commodity dropped 42.91% last month on year because of high base effect.
Khare said prices of key pulses varieties such as tur, urad and masoor have moderated in the last couple of weeks because of robust import and higher kharif crops sowing.
Sowing of kharif pulses including tur, urad and moong have been higher by 5.7% at 12.01 MH so far on year. which is expected to boost pulses production in the 2024-25 season. This is expected to bring down inflation in pulses, which had been in double digit since June 2023.
Retails prices of key pulses especially tur which had crossed Rs 200/kg in several places two months ago have now moderated to around Rs 165/kg, trade sources said. Imports of tur and urad from Myanmar and African countries such as Malawi have been robust, which has impacted the domestic prices.
However, in the case of chana or gram split, whose prices rose by 20.55% in July on year, it is expected to be moderate once imports from Australia start arriving by November.
“The upcoming festive season is expected to drive an increase in the demand for processed pulses. Furthermore, there will likely be a surge in seed demand for chickpeas and lentils (masoor) post-Diwali, as the rabi sowing season commences in November,” Harsha Rai , head, Mayur Global Corporation, leading pulses trading firm, said.
In June, to prevent hoarding, the government had imposed stock holding limits on tur and chana from immediate effect till September 30.
The duty-free imports of tur, urad and masoor have been extended till March 31, 2025. The government has also removed import duty on desi chana while extending import duty exemption on yellow peas till October, which is aimed to curb the spike in chana prices.
India’s import of pulses rose by 90% to 4.73 MT in FY24 compared to 2.69 MT in 2022-23. India imports about 15% of its annual pulses consumption.
