Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the 5,000 metric tonnes (MT) of pulses has arrived and is being distributed, which is likely to cool down the rising prices. "Though we have imported 5,000 MT of pulses, 3,000 MT more is in the process of landing," said Jaitley.
Emerging out of a meeting of the group constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to monitor availability and prices of pulses, he said: "Several states like Tamil Nadu have started picking up a lot of quantities out the dal that has been imported, while Andhara Pradesh has also expressed its desire to pick up large quantities. In Delhi, now, tur dal is available at 380 Safal stores and 103 kendriya Bhandars for Rs 120 per kg."
After the Central Government pressurised the states, 3,290 searches all over India had been conducted in the past 2-3 days and a staggering quantity of 36,000 MT of dal has been seized, he said, adding that more and more hoarded quantity is likely to be seized.
"The government has planned to distribute the seized pulses in the market to control the price rise," he added. At the meeting, the group has gone through all reasons of the shortage, he said, adding that one obvious reason is low domestic production. "Besides making use of the low availability, the hoarders have hoarded large quantities, and it is a matter of regret that most of the states are doing nothing to discharge their responsibility in taking action against these hoarders," said the Finace Minister.
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