Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

09-May-2012 17:09 IST

Import of Pulses and Cereals

Government has not imported wheat and non-basmati rice in last 3 years. To contain domestic prices of pulses and to meet the gap between demand and supply, Government operational zed two subsidy schemes for importing pulses through designated agencies. Under the first scheme that was operationalzed during December, 2006 - March, 2011, four designated public sector agencies supplied approximately 21 lakh tonnes of imported pulses in the domestic market. Under the second scheme, five designated agencies have supplied approximately 7 lakh tonnes of imported pulses to the state governments during November 2008 - April 2012.

This information was given by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia , Minister of State for Commerce & Industry in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

DS/GK

Subsidy schemes for pulse imports increased domestic supply through designated agencies and supported state procurement efforts. Government avoided direct imports of wheat and non-basmati rice while addressing pulse shortages by operationalizing subsidy schemes that authorised designated public agencies to import pulses and supply them either into the domestic market or directly to state governments, using agency-led distribution to stabilise supply and contain prices.