Huge drop in lentil imports in the first four months

09-Aug-2024 01:00 PM

New Delhi. In the first four months of the current financial year i.e. during April-July 2024, lentil imports in the country are estimated to decline to 2,64,382 tonnes, which is 2,02,044 tonnes less than the import of 4,66,426 tonnes during the same period last year.

As compared to last year, during the current year, lentil imports fell from 66,447 tonnes to 64,583 tonnes in April, from 61,999 tonnes in May to 49,095 tonnes at present, from 1,70,176 tonnes in June to 84,281 tonnes and from 1,67,803 tonnes to 66,422 tonnes in July.

It is noteworthy that during the entire period (April-March) of the financial year 2023-24, the total import of lentils in India jumped sharply to an all-time high of 16.76 lakh tonnes, which was 5.60 lakh tonnes more than the earlier record import of 11.16 lakh tonnes in 2020-21.

Meanwhile, 8.58 lakh tonnes of lentils were imported in the financial year 2022-23 and 6.67 lakh tonnes in 2021-22. The import quantity in the financial year 2019-20 was 8.54 lakh tonnes.

It is worth noting that in the nine months of the financial year 2023-24, the import of lentils was more than one lakh tonnes and it started from June 2023 which continued till February 2024.

In December 2023, the imports jumped to a high of 2.38 lakh tonnes. In comparison, the highest import of the current financial year was 84 lakh tonnes in June.

In July 2024, a total of 66,421 tonnes of lentils are estimated to be imported into the country, including 50,093 tonnes from Canada, 10,999 tonnes from Australia, 3453 tonnes from Russia, 1741 tonnes from the USA and 135 tonnes from Kazakhstan.

The major import ports of lentils include Chennai, JNPT, Kolkata, Mundra and Tuticorin etc. Now the harvesting and preparation of the new lentil crop has started in Canada,

while in Australia it will start in October. The domestic market price of lentils remains largely stable.