Government to halt duty-free yellow peas import after February, says Minister Joshi

The government will not extend duty-free import of yellow peas beyond February, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Thursday.

The matter will be discussed in a Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting headed by Union Minister Amit Shah scheduled on Thursday.

"We are stopping the duty-free import of yellow peas," Joshi told reporters on the sidelines of The Pulses Conclave 2025.

The government had allowed the duty-free import of yellow peas in December 2023 and subsequently extended it thrice till February 28.

The food ministry has given its comments and a final decision on imposing customs duty on yellow peas will be taken by the GoM, he added.

Meanwhile, India Pulses and Grain Association (IPGA) Chairman Bimal Kothari said the government may impose restrictions on yellow peas import in the interest of farmers.

"We expect that this (duty-free import of yellow peas) may not be extended or there might be some restrictions on import," he said at a press conference organised on the sidelines of The Pulses Conclave.

India's yellow peas import stood at 30 lakh tonnes out of 67 lakh tonnes of overall pulses import during the 2024 calendar year, he added.

"Our pulses production was badly hit last year and the prices were high so we had to import. But I don't think this year we are going to import a similar quantity, it will be much less."

With likely curbs on the import of yellow peas, Kothari said the country's overall pulses import may decline in the 2025-26 fiscal from the estimated 5.5 million tonnes in the current year due to higher domestic production.

The industry expects the government may impose a 15-20 per cent import duty on yellow peas.