India offers to buy tur dal from Mozambique

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi-India, which is under pressure to check price rise in pulses, has offered to buy tur dal from Mozambique for the next five years at the support price plus additional transportation cost. Pulse prices in domestic markets are retailing as high as Rs 198 per kg due to shortfall in the local output in the wake of two consecutive droughts. According to sources, India has asked the Mozambique government if it can supply tur dal for the next five years on a government-to-government basis.

India has offered to buy tur dal at the minimum support price (MSP) plus carrying and transportation cost. A draft proposal has been submitted to the African nation, which is yet to respond, they added. The MSP of tur dal has been fixed at Rs 5,050 per quintal, which includes a bonus of Rs 200 for 2016-17 crop year (July-June). An Indian team headed by Consumer Affairs Secretary Hem Pande, recently visited the African nation to negotiate the long-term arrangement for tur dal supply.

After the visit, Pande said, “The delegation is back with long-term solution in sight. The final draft is awaiting response of the Mozambique government. The Government of India is expecting positive response as soon as possible.” The talks were “positive” and the country’s pulse supply would improve once the long-term arrangement is signed, he had said.