India has extended duty-free imports of yellow peas until the end of May

Govt has extended duty-free import of yellow peas by three months, until the end of May, while imposing a 10% duty on imports of lentils (masur), according to a revenue department notification issued on late Friday evening.

India mostly imports yellow peas and lentils from Canada, Russia and Australia. Sources said govt’s moves aim at ensuring availability of pulses at affordable prices and send a positive signal to farmers as well.

Govt had allowed the import of yellow peas at 0% duty in Dec 2023 to boost availability. This is used as a substitute for chana, and the prices are also much lower. The Centre had extended the free import multiple times amid prospects of lower chana output. In 2017, govt had imposed a 50% duty on import of yellow peas to encourage domestic production of chana.

As per official data, the import of yellow peas was around 30 lakh tonnes out of the total import of 67 lakh tonnes of pulses in 2024. Despite being the biggest producer of pulses, India, to bridge the gap, depends on imports of about 15-18% to meet the annual pulses demand of around 290 lakh tonnes.

The main reason behind free import of yellow peas is its price. While at present the landed cost of yellow peas is at around Rs 32-35 per kg, the retail price is around Rs 40 a kg. This is much cheaper compared to prices of all other pulses which are in the range of Rs 90-160 per kg.

Govt continuing free import of yellow peas has stumped traders considering that mandi prices of chana in Maharashtra and Karnataka are less than the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,650 a quintal for the 2024-25 marketing season.

In the case of masur, govt had reduced the basic import duty to zero in July 2021 and subsequently, the exemption from 10% agri-infrastructure cess was given in Feb 2022. Since then, this was extended multiple times and was valid till March 2024.

Sources said masur would now attract basic customs duty (5%) and agriculture infrastructure and development cess (5%).

Tags: India, lentil, restrictions, pea