“At the time when lentil import flow increases from Canada and tur imports from African countries, few players are trying to manipulate the market against the interest of the consumers and the nation,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs.
He added that the government is watching the developments very closely.
It would initiate stringent measures to get the stock released into the market so that availability of all pulses at reasonable prices in the festival season is ensured.
The move has come at a time when National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) had to suspend their tenders to purchase imported lentils due to exorbitantly high bids received from few suppliers indicating at cartelization.