Indian government continues to purchase Canada lentils for buffer stock
The Indian government is continuing its purchases of lentils from Canada despite the worsening of diplomatic ties between the two nations as New Delhi seeks to build buffer stocks to arrest the high price of pulses, said people familiar with the matter.
The two central government agencies – National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) – have recently issued tenders to procure red lentils (masoor whole) from the local market as well as through imports to stabilise prices.
“The two agencies have floated tenders for domestic as well as imported lentils. They have, however, not mentioned any restriction on the country of origin,” one of the persons cited above said, adding lentils that will be procured have to comply with specifications of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Erratic monsoons this year in key growing states have caused a drop in acreage, leading to a rally in prices of the protein-rich staple.
Even though neither of the countries have placed any restriction on trade, India’s imports of lentils have slowed since the tensions began, said a senior executive at a large importer of pulses.
Canada was the biggest supplier of lentils to India in the last financial year. However, the South Asian nation has since then diversified its imports of the pulse.
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