NEW DELHI: The govt will not extend duty-free import of yellow peas beyond February, food and consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said on Thursday. The govt had allowed the duty-free import of yellow peas in December 2023 and subsequently extended it thrice till February 28 to tide over the increase in prices of tur dal.
“We are stopping the duty-free import of yellow peas,” Joshi told reporters on the sidelines of Pulses Conclave. Sources said the issue of duty on yellow peas is likely to be taken up by the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by home minister Amit Shah next week.
The food ministry has given its comments and a final decision on imposing customs duty on yellow peas will be taken by the GoM, Joshi added.
India Pulses and Grain Association (IPGA) chairman Bimal Kothari said the govt may impose restrictions on yellow peas import in the interest of farmers. “We expect that this (duty-free import of yellow peas) may not be extended or there might be some restrictions on import,”he said.
India’s yellow peas import stood at 30 lakh tonnes out of 67 lakh tonnes of overall pulses import during the 2024 calendar year, he added.
With likely curbs on the import of yellow peas, Kothari said the country’s overall pulses import may decline in the 2025-26 fiscal from the estimated 5.5 million tonnes in the current year due to higher domestic production.
