The Union government has extended the ban on export of pulses for another year and cleared the way for its imports at zero duty till March 31, 2010, the Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, said after emerging from a Cabinet meeting.
He explained that the government had also extended the current dispensation for public sector companies to import 1.5 million tonnes of pulses against reimbursement up to 15 per cent of their losses and service charge for a year.
The government had banned export of pulses and exempted it from Customs duty in June 2006 to check the soaring prices.
But traders asserted that the move would not have the desired impact as production continued to be far less than demand.
Pulses production in 2008-09 is likely to fall by 3.46 per cent to 14.25 million tonnes due to adverse weather conditions, according to official estimates.