Stock disclosure made mandatory for pulses millers amid price hikes

Pune: After the retail inflation surged to two year high on Thursday, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs took multiple steps on Friday to control speculative price hikes in pulses and tightened monitoring of sugar.

It held a series of meetings with all the stakeholders of the pulses industry including large format retail, processors, importers, stockists and retailers giving a stern message that there was no scope for sharp increase in pulses prices after the festival season is over. It has asked the millers to begin mandatory weekly stock declarations. It also warned the sugar industry for not complying with the stock limit restrictions announcing additional sets of punitive measures for non compliance.

The central government on Friday warned the pulses industry stakeholders that there was no scope for price rise after the festival season as the government expects the production of kharif and rabi pulses to be good with the backing of good buffer stock.


Multiple sources, who attended the meetings, told ET that the government is convinced that the price rise has happened despite a good supply situation and warned that the government can impose stock limit if prices continue to rise.

"The government was concerned about why the prices were going up as it expects the production of Kharif pulses is expected to be good, the Rabi sowing of chana is expected to be good as some area is expected to shift from wheat to chana and the buffer stock with the government is also good," said a senior industry executive, who requested not to be identified. Bimal Kothari, chairman, Indian Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), said, "The ministry has asked the stakeholders to begin weekly stock disclosure on the government portal for stock monitoring. We will ask our members to strictly follow these instructions."

The government expects the 2026-27 kharif tur production of 3.59 million tonnes, against industry's estimate of about 2.5 million tonnes. The secretary pointed out that contrary to the trade belief about losses in uard production, the arrivals of urad at mandis has been good, while production of urad in Uttar Pradesh, a key urad producer, is also good. The government said that the imports from Africa, Myanmar and Brazil have also been good, leaving no room for price rise.

The ministry informed the pulses industry that it has initiated the talks with the Russian government to prioritise export of yellow peas to India. "We had requested the Indian government to initiate a dialogue with their Russian counterparts to allocate a quota at Russia's northern ports for exporting yellow peas to India," said Kothari.

The secretary had issued separate instructions to secretaries of concerned state governments on Thursday to conduct stock verification to ensure there is no hoarding and speculative price rise.

"We informed the authorities that one of the reasons for the increase in the chana prices was the consistent increase by government agencies in the tender prices of chana. The larger quantities allowed per bidder also led to the stock going in the hands of the stockists instead of coming to the market. We have requested them to reduce the lifting period given to the bidders," said Satish Upadhyay, secretary, IPGA.

Nitin Kalantry, CEO, Amrut Foods said, "We have suggested allocating smaller quantities in the government sale of pulses."