India imported 22.37 LT of pulses till September at $1612 mn

NEW DELHI: India has imported 22.37 lakh tonnes of pulses valued at $1,612 million till September in the current financial year, Parliament was informed today.

During the April-September period, maximum inward shipments of lentils came from Canada at 9.30 lakh tonnes, followed by 5.52 lakh tonnes from Myanmar and 2.23 lakh tonnes from Australia.

According to the data shared by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Lok Sabha, the country had imported 45.84 lakh tonnes of pulses in the last fiscal.

This year, prices of pulses continued to rule high and touched Rs 210 per kg, due to fall in domestic production by 2 million tonnes in the 2014-15 crop.

The lentils production fell due to 14 per cent deficit monsoon.

The country's pulses production was 17.20 million tonnes in the 2014-15 crop year, much lower than the requirement of 25 million tonnes. The gap is being met through imports.

India imports about four million tonnes of pulses largely through the private trade. But this time, the government has started importing pulses after a gap of two years.