Rs 10 subsidy on imported arhar dal by Govt.

NEW DELHI: Coming under pressure for failing to check prices of dal and onion, the government on Tuesday announced Rs 10 subsidy on every kg of imported arhar dal that will be sold to consumers through state agencies.

The 5,000 tonnes of imported un-milled arhar will be available by mid-September at Rs 77 per kg while another 5,000 tonnes of imported urad dal at Rs 86 a kg will be available by October first week.

The price stabilization fund (PSF) management committee on Tuesday approved the prices for importing urad dal. The decisions to import urad and subsidy for arhar came as prices of these pulses have seen a steep increase. The retail price of arhar on Tuesday was over Rs 130 per kg in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Urad was selling over Rs 100 per kg and it was selling at Rs 130 in Chennai.

So far government has utilized about Rs 81 crore for importing pulses and Rs 16 crore for procuring onion from the Rs 500 crore that was allocated for under PSF for market intervention.

Meanwhile, the price rise has exposed how PSF has hardly helped, though it was set up for market intervention for price control of perishable agri-horticultural commodities.

PSF also has provision for states to get advance interest free loan for procurement and distribution for such commodities. Only on Tuesday, first such first such proposal by Telengana to set up a Rs 18 crore fund was approved by the Centre. Government officials said over half a dozen states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh had sent their proposals. But these did not meet the requirement. “We have called a meeting of states on Thursday to discuss how PSF can be utilized to mitigate price rise,” an official said.

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Source:Timesofindia