New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS): The retail prices of tur and urad have declined or remained stable in the last three months with the decline in wholesale mandi prices, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, B.L. Verma told the Lok Sabha, in a written reply, that the Department of Consumer Affairs holds regular meetings with the Retailers’ Association of India (RAI) and organised retail chains to deliberate on the trends in mandi and retail prices of pulses to ensure that retailers maintain the retail margins at reasonable levels.

In order to intervene directly in the retail market, the government has also converted part of the stock of pulses from the buffer to dals for retail sale to the consumers at affordable prices under the Bharat Dal brand.

Similarly, atta and rice are distributed to retail consumers under the Bharat brand at subsidised prices, the minister pointed out.

The condition of Kharif crops is good and harvesting is completed for short-duration crops such as moong, and urad, while harvesting of the tur crop has just commenced.

The weather has also been favourable for the crop in maintaining a good flow across the supply chain to the consumers, which is expected to moderate the prices of pulses, he added.

The minister also said that in order to ensure smooth and seamless import of pulses to augment domestic availability, the import of tur and urad has been kept under 'Free Category' till March 31, 2025, and zero duty on masur import till the same date.

Additionally, the government has also allowed duty-free import of desi chana till March 31, 2025, to augment the supply of pulses in the domestic market.

The stable import policy regime of tur, urad, and masur has been effective in ensuring the consistent supply of tur and urad in the country due to the continuous flow of imports in maintaining the availability and checking abnormal price rises in pulses, the minister said.

The Department of Consumer Affairs provided support to the NCCF and the NAFED for farmers’ awareness campaigns, outreach programmes, seed distribution etc. The government has implemented the pre-registration of farmers for assured procurement of tur and urad under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) and the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) components of the PM-AASHA scheme through the NAFED and the NCCF.

A total of 10.66 lakh farmers have been registered by NCCF and NAFED as on November 22.

The minister also said that onion from the buffer stock is released in a calibrated and targeted manner to moderate prices in high-price consuming centres at wholesale markets and through retail outlets.

Onion is distributed among retail consumers at Rs 35 per kg through stationary retail outlets and mobile vans in major consumption centres.

These measures have helped in making essential food commodities such as pulses, rice, atta and onion available to consumers at affordable prices and also in stabilising the prices, the minister said.