The government has offloaded over 5,366 tonnes of pulses in the markets so far out of a total 1.32 lakh tonnes (LT) seized till November 17, 2015, from hoarders in raids conducted by the states. This step has been taken with an aim at boosting supply and easing prices. The production of pulses has dipped by 2 million tonnes in the 2014-15 crop year on account of poor and untimely rains. This in-turn has led the pulses prices ruling as high as Rs 180 per kg in the retail markets.
These 5,366 tonnes of pulses were offloaded by six states -- Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Madhya Pradesh has disposed 1,945.8 tonne of pulses in the markets so far, Chhattisgarh 1,489.06 tonnes, Odisha 1,402.16 tonnes, Karnataka 371.03 tonnes, Rajasthan 150 tonnes and Delhi 8.13 tonnes.
The maximum price of tur (arhar) dal is Rs 180 per kg, urad Rs 178 per kg, moong Rs 125 per kg, masoor Rs 110 per kg and gram Rs 80 per kg, as per Consumer Affairs Ministry data.