Tur dal prices fall below Rs. 200 per kg as government seizes more pulses

New Delhi: Tur dal prices fell below Rs. 200 per kg in retail markets as state governments stepped up countrywide crackdowns on hoarders and have seized over 1.24 lakh tonnes of pulses so far. Besides, states' efforts to make pulses available at reasonable rates helped ease pressure on prices.

According to the data maintained by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, tur prices declined to Rs.191 per kg on Friday from Rs. 200 per kg on Thursday in most retail centres, while urad rates remained unchanged at Rs. 190 per kg.

Among metros, tur prices declined to Rs. 160 per kg in Kolkata from Rs. 168 per kg yesterday, while rates remained unchanged at Rs. 172 per in Delhi and at Rs. 173 per kg each in Mumbai and Chennai, the data showed.

"So far under de-hoarding operations, 10,903 raids have been conducted and 1,24,209 tonnes of pulses have been seized across states," an official release said.

Following concerted efforts made by the government, prices of pulses have continued to show declining trends both in wholesale and retail markets, it added.

"There has been a decline of more than Rs. 2,400 per quintal in wholesale market in the prices of tur dal and the same is reflected in the retail prices also," the release said.

In the statement, the government said apart from Gujarat, Jharkhand, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have also held meetings with whole-sellers to make pulses available in the retail market at reasonable prices.

Besides, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are distributing pulses at subsided rates through public distribution system.

The seized pulses will be offloaded in the open market from next week onwards.

Prices of pulses have risen across the country due to shortfall in domestic output by two million tonnes in 2014-15 due to poor rains. There is also a global shortage of lentils.