Govt puts urad, moong dal imports under restricted category.

The government on Monday put imports of urad and moong dal under the restricted category and fixed a cap for its in-bound shipments up to three lakh tonnes. The move will help in stabilising domestic prices that have fallen below the minimum support level and are hurting farmers. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the commerce ministry, also said import of this dal is subject to annual quota of three lakh tonnes.

“Import of urad and moong dal is revised from free to restricted,” the DGFT said in a notification. It, however, said this restriction will not apply to the government’s import commitments under any bilateral and regional agreement.

Moong production touched a record 2.07 million tonnes (mt) in 2016-17 crop year that ended June as against 1.59 mt in the previous fiscal. India is the world’s largest pulse producer and importer. Earlier this month, the government had also put imports of pigeon peas and toor dal under the restricted category.