New Delhi: About 1.16 lakh tonnes of pulses seized from hoarders have been disposed off in the open market so far to boost supply and contain rising prices.

In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, the Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan informed that 1,16,334.85

tonnes of pulses have been disposed off in the market out of 1,26,758.59 tonnes seized from hoarders. Total 14,482 raids were conducted in 14 states and Union Territories. In Maharashtra, 78,232.35 tonnes of pulses have been offloaded out of 80,167.44 tonnes seized from hoarders, while in Karnataka, 23,708.34 tonnes have been diposed out of 25,545.83 tonnes. Replying to another question, the minister informed the house that the government is importing pulses through state-owned trading agency MMTC. The delivery of 6,000 tonnes of tur dal and 1,000 tonnes of urad dal from Myanmar is expected. About 4,927 tonnes of imported tur has been delivered out of 5,000 tonnes contracted from Malawi. Pulses output is estimated to increase marginally to 17.33 million tonnes in 2015-16 crop year from last year’s 17.15 million tonnes though it’s still not sufficient to meet domestic demand. Indian imports about 4-5 million tonnes of pulses every year to meet demand. — PTI