Government has offloaded 1.23 lakh tonnes pulses seized from hoarders

NEW DELHI: About 1.23 lakh tonnes of pulses seized from hoarders have been disposed off in the open market so far to boost supply and contain rising prices.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, the Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan informed that 1,23,386.09 tonnes of pulses have been disposed off in the market as on February 24 out of 1,26,758.59 tonnes seized from hoarders.

Total 14,482 raids were conducted in 14 states and Union Territories.

"The anti-hoarding operations have helped in bringing down the rates of pulses," the minister said.

In Maharashtra, 85,283.57 tonnes of pulses have been offloaded out of 87,167.37 tonnes seized from hoarders, while in Karnataka, 23,708.34 tonnes have been disposed out of 25,545.83 tonnes.

Pulses output is estimated to increase marginally to 17.33 million tonnes in 2015-16 crop year from last year's 17.15 million tonnes though it's still not sufficient to meet domestic demand.

Indian imports about 4-5 million tonnes of pulses every year to meet demand.