CM urges Centre to lift restrictions on import of peas
CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday urged the Centre to lift restrictions on import of yellow and green peas. “I request the Centre to permit import of peas with HSN Codes 07131010 (yellow peas), 07131020 (green peas) and 07131090 (other) through Thoothukudi port for the welfare of dhal and flour milling trade in Tamil Nadu as well as neighbouring States. The lifting of restriction through Thoothukudi will hardly affect the domestic market in Northern States, which are broadly self-sufficient with in-house production of peas,” he said in a letter to Union Minister for Commerce and Industry.
“On December 18, Director-General of Foreign Trade imposed restriction on import of peas to 1.5 lakh tonnes for the entire country. This affected MSMEs and the livelihood of labourers and others. Besides, the restriction had increased demand and the cost had shot up to over `65 per kg,” he said. The CM also underscored the fact that since peas is used for preparing traditional snacks in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala, more than 1,000 dhal & flour mills were functioning in the State and thereby providing direct employment to around 50,000 and indirectly to over 65,000 persons. The average requirement in Tamil Nadu is around two lakh tonnes, of which a maximum of 10,000 tonnes alone are being transported from Northern States.
Moreover, because of a heavy demand for peas in other States, the cost of peas transported from northern States after fulfilling internal demand is very high. Hence, peas are imported from countries such as Australia, Canada and Russia, through Thoothukudi port. “Peas cultivation is taken up in cooler regions and hence grown only to a smaller extent in Tamil Nadu where green peas are cultivated in an extent of 120 Ha with production of about 1,960 MT. The cultivation of peas, mainly yellow peas is confined to Northern, Central and Northeastern States viz., Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, etc., and are consumed mostly there itself,” he concluded.
‘Won’t affect North India’
The lifting of import restriction through Thoothukudi will hardly affect the domestic market in Northern States, which are broadly self-sufficient with in-house production of peas,” he said in his letter