Price rise a little serious: Pawar

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday attributed the skyrocketing prices of pulses to less production and supply and said there is a ���little serious problem���. ���The problem is because of less production. Even this year also, the areas where we generally get pulses have less rain. These are essentially rain-fed areas and that���s why definitely there is a little serious problem,��� food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told reporters on shooting prices of pulses like arhar dal, which is now selling around Rs 90 a kg.

Mr Pawar, however, said the government would take measures to resolve the problem. ���Actually it���s a question of availability.... We are also working on how to resolve it. We are consulting some of the states. We are in process of making some schemes,��� he said.

But the minister declined to share details, fearing repercussion in markets. ���I do not want to disclose it now, because it will create impact or repercussion in some market.���

India has produced about 14.7 million tonnes of pulses in the 2008-09 season against its annual domestic consumption of over 18 million tonnes. The gap between demand and supply is bridged through imports.

According to the official data, retail prices of pulses have shot up by up to 40% in major cities across the country. Arhar rates have gone up to Rs 88 a kg in the national capital from Rs 63 a kg just a month ago.