Issue with Mozambique tur imports resolved, says consumer affairs secy
Informist, Wednesday, Mar 20, 2024
--Consumer affairs secy: Issue with Mozambique commodity cos resolved
--Consumer affairs secy: No issue with Mozambique tur imports now
--Consumer affairs secy:Urad imports of 20,000 tn expected from Brazil
--Consumer affairs secy: Pulses imports from Argentina to arrive soon
By Sayantan Sarkar and Pratiksha
NEW DELHI – Imports of tur or pigeon peas to India from Mozambique are flowing freely as the dispute between two commodity firms has been resolved, Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary at the Department of Consumer Affairs said. "Imports are now coming in from Mozambique and the issue with the companies has been sorted," Singh told Informist.
A face-off between commodity firms Export Trading Group and the Royal Group Limitada led to disruptions in supplies of pigeon peas from the south-east African country in the last few months.
A Mozambican court had earlier said that a shipment of pigeon peas belonging to the Export Trading Group cannot be exported to India. In February, a local court overruled the earlier decision and said "not to follow" that decision. India is the largest producer and consumer of pigeon peas. It imports large quantities of the pulse to meet local demand, mainly from East African countries like Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, Sudan, Kenya and Uganda, and also Myanmar.
In July 2016, India signed a memorandum of understanding with Mozambique to import 200,000 tn of tur every year from the country. Initially, the agreement was signed for a period of five years, but in 2021, it was extended for the same period.
Singh also said that imports of pulses from Brazil and Argentina have started arriving in India. He said around 20,000 tn of urad dal is expected from Brazil. "We don't have the number (for pulses import) coming from Argentina yet, but shipments will start arriving soon," he said. The official further said that the import policy for urad and tur is free, and traders have no restrictions.
India imported 3.1 mln tn of pulses in 2023, and 50% of the imports accounted for lentils, Singh had said in February. The country imported 880,000 tn of pigeon peas, he said. In December, the government had said that there are no restrictions on imports of tur and urad till March 2025. The decision was taken to maintain adequate availability of tur and urad dal in domestic markets.
Production of tur is expected to be at 3.3 mln tn in 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), largely unchanged from the previous year's output, according to the agriculture ministry's second advance estimate. However, traders expect production to be lower than the government's estimate. In 2021-22, India produced 4.2 mln tn of tur.
Singh also said that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research is working on developing new varieties of tur dal, which are likely to be climate resilient, but it is a long-term commitment. He said that the varieties are not expected to hit the market anytime soon. End
