India launches e-portal to procure tur pulses, aims to cut imports

The pulses will be procured by government-backed cooperatives like NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) and NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India) as per a dynamic pricing formula. MSP or market price, whichever is higher, will be paid to the farmers.

The process of registration, purchase and payment on the portal will be available on a single medium and registrations can be done directly or through PACS and FPO. The payment to the farmers will be made by NAFED directly into their mapped bank account and no agency will be involved in between.

The move is aimed at incentivising farmers with ample remuneration and reducing dependence on imports by purchasing 80% of the buffer stock directly from farmers. As per government estimates, India is slated to import 12 lakh tonnes (LT) of pulses in the ongoing fiscal, which is more than 35% compared to the previous fiscal.

The Centre’s decision comes after detailed discussions were held over the issue between the Ministry of Cooperation & Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.