Mandi rates of pulses fall but retail prices high

RETAIL PULSES PRICES continue to rule firm despite a fall in mandi prices due to the arrival of kharif harvests and robust imports.

- SANDIP DAS

According to the department of consumer affairs, modal retail prices of key pulses - tur, urad and chana - have been ruling at ₹160/kg, ₹120/kg and ₹90/kg on Monday. The prices have remained unchanged for the past three months.

The consumer affairs department has urged retailers to reduce prices of pulses in line with the decline in wholesale rates. Officials said the wholesale prices of tur, masur, chana, moong, yellow peas, urad, etc. have declined by 5-20% in the past two months.

With the arrival of the kharif harvest and robust imports due to the abolition of duties improving supplies, the retail prices are likely to soften in the next couple of months after staying elevated since 2023, trade sources have said.

They said that mandi prices of tur or arhar and urad varieties of pulse have started to fall with the fresh kharif arrivals and expectation of bumper crops, while chana prices have softened because of adequate supplies of yellow peas and Bengal gram because of duty-free imports allowed since last December.