Masoor Dal Duty Cut by 20% to Augment Supply

· Measure Valid only 44 days till New Crops Arrives in Market, Exemption Valid for the period 18 Sept 2020 to 31 Oct 2020

· Duty Cut of 2 June Expired on 1 Sept, Measure Revives Cut with 17 days gap in which full Duty will Apply

The government reduced the import duty on masoor dal by 20 per cent till October-end, a move aimed at increasing availability in the domestic market.

The import duty on lentil has been reduced from 30 per cent to 10 per cent from countries other than the US. In the case of import of the lentil from the US is down to 30 per cent from the earlier 50 per cent.

The country’s total pulses production during 2019-20 crop year (July-June) stood at 23.15 million tonnes as against 22.08 million tonne in the previous year, as per the government’s estimates. Of this, the lentil output is estimated to have declined to 1.18 million tonne from 1.23 million tonne in the 2018-19 crop year.

Reacting to the development, Indian Pulses & Grains Association Vice Chairman Bimal Kothari said the government should have a consistent import policy. He said the duty cut announced in June benefitted foreign farmers and traders as global prices of lentil rose after India reduced the import duty.

Kothari said the country imported about 25 lakh tonnes of pulses last fiscal to meet domestic demand and out of that 8.5 lakh tonne was lentil. He pegged the imports of lentil to rise to 10 lakh tonnes this fiscal, although the overall inwards shipments might come down to 20 lakh tonnes.

[Notification No. 34/2020-Customs dated 17 September 2020]

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) and sub-section (12) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby makes the following further amendments in the notification of the Government of India, in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 50/2017- Customs, dated the 30th June, 2017, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R. 785(E), dated the 30th June, 2017, namely:-

In the said notification, -

(a) in the first proviso, for clause (e), the following clause shall be substituted namely: -

“(e) the goods specified against serial numbers 21E and 21F of the said table, -

(i) during the period 1st September, 2020 to 17th September, 2020”;

(ii) after the 31st day of October, 2020.”;

(b) in the second proviso, after the figure and letter “21D,”, the figure and letter “21E,”, shall be inserted.

[F. No. 354/368/2017-TRU]