The government is reluctant to reduce import duty on chickpeas despite increased demand

Mumbai, Ta. Saturday, October 17, 2020

Despite increased demand from some traders, the central government does not intend to reduce import duty on chickpeas. Chickpeas are the largest sown crop in the country. With the chickpea planting season starting in a few weeks, the government does not want to let any negative signal go among the farmers, Commerce Ministry sources said.

Most of the chickpeas in the country are imported from Australia and Tanzania and are subject to 50 per cent import duty.

In view of the fact that the new crop of chickpeas will start arriving in mid-February, some traders have demanded a reduction in the import duty on chickpeas from 5 to 20 per cent so as not to create a shortage of chickpeas in the country.

Chickpea stocks are set to run out due to increased supply due to the Covid-15 relief package. However, at present, the government believes that any reduction in duty will hurt the market.

If supply increases, chickpea prices may fall below the support price. The support price for chickpeas is currently fixed at Rs 5,100 per quintal. In some parts of the country, chickpea planting will start from the end of October.

At present, the price of chickpeas in the open market is Rs 300 per quintal, which traders are claiming will go up to Rs 2,000 in the near future.