Price of pulses expected to soften by July-end: Govt

The prices of major pulses including tur, chana and urad dals are likely to soften from July end, Union Consumers Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said Friday. A good monsoon, as forecast by the weather office, and an increase in the pulses’ availability through imports will bring down the prices, she said.

According to the Department of Consumer Affairs data, the all-India retail price of tur was Rs 160 per kg on Friday, which was 26.66 per cent higher as compared to last year’s Rs 126.61 per kg.

Similarly, the retail prices of gram and urad are 17.21 per cent and 13.30 per cent higher respectively, in comparison to a year ago.

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This rise in prices had brought the Centre severe criticism from the Opposition.

An official source at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said that the prices of agri-horticultural crops are volatile due to “seasonality in production and exposure to vagaries of adverse weather conditions.”