The Indian government is actively considering ending the duty-free import of masur (lentil) even before March 31, which is the deadline of the sop provided to importers to bolster domestic stock. The notification on the duty is likely to be issued next week after an inter-ministerial panel approves the proposal, sources said. However, it is not immediately known if import duty will be levied on chana (gram).

“Both for masur and chana, the key pulses of rabi season, the duty-free import is allowed till March 31, whereas the crop is expected to arrive from next month. As Bihar will be having Assembly poll later this year, the government is very concerned about farmers there as it is also one of the major producers of masur,” said a source, adding the paddy procurement in the State has been higher this year, whereas normally it was neglected earlier.

Current prices

The Union Agriculture Ministry has flagged its concern on masur, fearing further dip in prices when the crop arrives in the market. It could potentially create dissatisfaction among farmers. The minimum support price (MSP) of masur has been fixed at ₹6,700/quintal for the ensuing crop, up from ₹6,425 in the previous season.

However, the current prices in agriculture market yards hover between ₹5,640/quintal in Madhya Pradesh and ₹6,500 in Uttar Pradesh, sources said. Besides, the imported masur is selling lower than domestic prices, the sources said.

Trade estimates suggest about 5.5 lt, each of masur stock lying with both private and public sector agencies as of now and the government believes that if the import continues unabated it can lead to a price crash in April, the sources said. According to IGrain India’s Rahul Chauhan, masur import was 5.90 lakh tonnes (lt) during April-November of the current fiscal, and the industry has estimated the import over 5 tonnes only in December 2024.

Lower than a year ago

This will take the total masur import to 10.93 lt between April and December 2024, lower from 16.81 lt recorded in the year-ago period.

The area under masur has been flat at 17.43 lakh hectare this year, from which it is estimated that the country could have 18 lt of production. Last year, masur production was 17.91 lt.

The basic import duty on masur was 30 per cent for the US and 10 per cent for other nations before 2021 after which the government decided to lower the duty for US to 10 per cent and to allow duty-free import for other nations. India imports masur mainly from major producing countries such as Canada and Australia. In 2023, the government had removed the retaliatory customs tariff on imports of lentils from the United States.