Announce higher MSP for pulses, procure fast: CEA

TIL Desk Business/New Delhi- In a bid to boost pulse output and check prices, the Chief Economic Advisor-led panel today asked the government to immediately announce higher MSP of gram (chana) to Rs 4,000 a quintal for rabi 2016 and Rs 6,000 a quintal for both urad and tur for kharif season 2017.

The report also recommended that the government should procure pulses on a “war footing”, create buffer stock of 2 million tonnes, push states to delist pulses from APMC and promote development of GM technologies. It also prescribed subsidies to farmers for growing pulses.

CEA Arvind Subramanian today submitted the report titled ‘Incentivising Pulses Production Through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Related Policies’ to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The panel was set up in the wake of a recent surge in retail prices of pulses.