Centre launches Chana dal as ‘Bharat Dal’

New Delhi: The Centre launched the sale of chana dal in retail packs under the brand name of Bharat Dal on August 7 at highly subsidised rates of Rs 60 per kg for 1 kg pack and Rs 55 per kg for 30 kg pack to make pulses available to consumers at affordable prices.

Bharat Dal is being distributed through retail outlets of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF), Kendriya Bhandar and Safal.

The chana dal is also made available to state governments for supplies under their welfare schemes, police, prisons, and also for distribution through the retail outlets of state-controlled cooperatives and corporations.

The disposal of tur from the PSF buffer is underway in a targeted and calibrated manner to augment the availability of stocks for milling into tur dal for consumers.

Stocks of chana and moong from the Price Support Scheme (PSS) and PSF buffer are continuously released in the market to moderate prices. Apart from market disposal, pulses from the buffer are also being supplied to the states for their welfare schemes, and to the Army and Central Armed Police Forces.

To augment domestic availability and moderate the prices of pulses, the import of tur and urad has been kept under 'Free Category' till March 31, 2024, and the import duty on masur has been reduced to zero till the same period. Import duty of 10% on tur has been removed to facilitate smooth and seamless imports.

To prevent hoarding, stock limits have been imposed on tur and urad under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, on June 2 till October 31. The stock of pulses held by entities such as dealers, importers, millers and traders is continuously monitored through the online stock monitoring portal of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

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