Reuters
Mumbai: India is likely to import 3 million tonnes of pulses in 2008-09, 11.1% more than a year ago, to bridge the gap between rising domestic demand and a likely fall in summer-sown pulses output, a senior official said.
“The government agencies will import 1.5 million tonnes of pulses and we are expecting same amount of imports from private players,” Yashwant Bhave, secretary, consumer affairs ministry, told Reuters in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
“In 2007-08, imports were around 2.7 million tonnes, according to provisional estimates,” he said .
India is the world’s biggest producer, consumer and importer of pulses. The country allowed duty-free import and banned export of pulses in 2006. The ban was extended to March 2009.