Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh issued a directive to retailers on Friday warning them against maintaining a “unreasonable level” of profit margin on pulses, particularly tur dal. This was done out of concern over the rising price of tur dal. The secretary of the Retailers Association of India (RAI) instructed the main organized retailers to adjust their retail margins in a way that would prevent a change in the composition of households’ consumption baskets for pulses as a result of price increases.
Players in the retail sector pledged to fully cooperate with the government and stated that every effort would be taken to keep pulse costs under check. The department has held a number of meetings with stakeholders along the whole value chain for pulses to ensure that they are accessible and affordable for consumers. Today’s meeting with the retail association and big organized retail chains is one of them.
To prevent hoarding, the agency is closely observing how traders and importers disclose their inventories. According to data kept by the consumer affairs ministry, the average retail price of tur dal in the nation has climbed by 11.12% to Rs 115 per kilograme in the past year.
Prices are under pressure as the country’s tur output is predicted to be lower at 36.66 million tonnes in the crop year 2022–23 (July–June), as opposed to 42.20 million tonnes in the previous year, according to the agriculture ministry’s second estimate. Tur is mostly a kharif (summer) crop. To suit domestic demand, the nation imports some amounts of pulse.
