Rising dal prices hit home budgets

 

Last week, urad dal and tur dal prices surged hitting record high levels across the country. "Strong festive season demand coupled with lower availability has remained the key driver behind the rise in prices," said Prerana Desai, vice president, Agri Value chain, Edelweiss Financial Services.

 

"This is the second year in the row where we witnessed a deficit monsoon. Because of this, production of pulses was down by almost 30-40 per cent this year," she said. Also, supply of pulses from countries such as Myanmar and Africa are slower than expected hitting domestic prices. 

 

The price quotes for Burmese cargo have gained substantially over the past couple of weeks due to lower availability and with a higher domestic demand.

 "Consumers will have to pay more for pulses during the festive season," said Deep N Mukherjee, senior director- corporates, India Ratings and Research.

 

"In India, 60-70 per cent of the price we pay for pulses accounts for transportation, warehousing charges, middle man commission and wastage. Apart from this, when prices shoot up, traders will definitely resort to hoarding, which again will affect the retail price," he said. Market watchers are seeing signs of light at the end of a long tunnel.

 

"From November we will see new imports from countries like Canada and Australia. Also harvesting of tur dal and moong dal has begun in regions of Karnataka and some parts of Maharastra," Desai said.