IPGA welcomes the government’s move of extending OGL on Tur and Urad till 31st
March 2023. It’s definitely a well-planned decision which will benefit the trade and
industry as well as consumers. IPGA has been in constant dialogue with the various
ministries to recommend a consistent and stable import policy and we are glad that
this notification for a 12-month period is a step in that direction.
We have imported over 22.6 lakh ton of pulses in 2020 – 2021. We still need about
10-12% pulses imports for increased consumption. There were concerns over the
scarcity of Tur and Urad which would have impacted the prices. The current prices of
Tur and Urad are above MSP. This notification will certainly control the prices to a
certain extent. Production of Tur is around 40,00,000 tons and NAFED does not
have the stock. Tur is selling above MSP price around Rs. 67 – 68. We were
expecting the prices to increase but since the imports are opened up, we will be able
to import around 2 – 2.5 lakh ton tur from Myanmar. Additionally, the tur crops from
Africa will harvest in August 2022 and the production is likely to be very good. This
will supplement our demand in September to November which is the festival period
in India as our crop will harvest only around December and would have created
shortage.
There is no crop of Urad before September in India and also there’s been an
increase in prices of Urad by Rs. 7 – 8 in the last 1 month. Burma is the only supplier
of Urad to India and they have harvested a very good crop and the production is
expected around 7 – 8 lakh tons. India imports Urad from Myanmar regularly to meet
the gap between demand and supply. Hence the extension of OGL is a strategic
move by the government and will help in stabilising the supply and prices.
