NEW DELHI: Centre has made weekly stock declarations mandatory for all pulses by stockists, millers, wholesalers, retailers and large chain retailers, in a move to prevent artificial price rises and curb hoarding. The declarations will have to be uploaded every Friday onto a dedicated portal of the consumer affairs department.The move comes amid a sharp rise in pulse prices despite comfortable supply and record buffer stocks. This comes a week after the food department made weekly stock declarations mandatory for six varieties of rice.Consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare said the weekly reporting requirement was aimed at checking sharp price spikes, artificial supply constraints, speculative stock accumulation, hoarding and profiteering. The department has also written to states and UTs, asking them to closely monitor pulse prices and take action against hoarding and black marketing.The department has warned that misreporting of stocks will be viewed seriously and urged traders and millers to rationalise margins and pass on the benefits of favourable supply conditions to consumers.Officials said that the department, in a meeting with millers, has flagged that retail prices of some varieties of pulses were rising despite a decline or minor increase in wholesale prices, robust availability and imports. “So, the increase is likely due to some artificial reasons, including hoarding,” said an official.Govt data show that the average retail prices of tur and gram (chana) stood at Rs 135 and Rs 95 per kg respectively on Friday, registering an increase of 19.5% and 10% from a year ago. Retail inflation in the pulses category rose to 8.7% in Oct, against a deflation of 1.7% in April 2026.
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Khare said chana production stood at 12.6 million tonne in the 2025-26 crop year, the second highest in five years, while mandi arrivals remained comparable with previous years. Imports of yellow peas, used as a substitute for chana, have also been higher than in previous years. In such a condition, there is no reason for any increase in retail prices.As per official assessment, stocks held by large retailers, dealers, importers, millers, stockists and traders declined from 5.9 million tonne on July 3 to 5.4 million tonne on Nov 6. The Centre’s buffer stock of pulses has touched a record 3.8 million tonne, above the norm of 3.5 million tonne.
