mumbai

Updated: Jul 18, 2017 01:05 IST

The state, which has bought 15.38 lakh quintal of tur dal stock from farmers and will buy another 10 lakh quintal soon, is staring at losses of more than Rs200 crore as the prices of the pulse drops in the market.

The government is now forced to decide quickly about what to do with this stock.

To help farmers, the state decided to procure 15.38 lakh quintal of tur dal from them at the minimum support price of Rs5,050 a quintal, after the Centre stopped procurement in April (the Centre bought 51.5 lakh quintal). The state also recently announced it would procure 23 quintals of tur dal lying at procurement centres.

READ: Maharashtra govt doesn’t know what to do with 1.25 lakh tonnes of tur dal it bought from farmers

For months now, the state has been tapping various options to dispose of the 15.38 lakh quintal, for which it has already paid more than Rs750 crore. Among the options it has, the government is considering auctioning the stock through the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), sell it at retail outlets or to other states.

“We had a meeting with big retailers to sell tur at wholesale rate. They insisted the product be supplied at Rs65 to Rs70 a kg. We will now check the cost of milling and transportation. Even if retailers agree to buy, their requirement is just 50,000 quintal, a fraction of our stock,” said an official from the state’s marketing department.

He said even if they try to sell to other states, the sale would not be more than 1.5 lakh quintal and will not resolve the crisis. “We may have to sell in the open market at a much lower rate. This may lead to losses of Rs200 crore,” he said.

Bijay Kumar, principal secretary, agriculture and marketing department, said, “We are also keeping an eye on the monsoon and production in other states and countries like Myanmar. While selling stock, we will also have to take care of balance between demand and supply. We can wait for the higher prices to avoid the losses.”