Written by Harish DamodaranNew Delhi | Updated: October 3, 2025 04:23 AM IST 2 min readThat could prompt a reversal of the present import policy. The Centre did re-impose a 10 % duty on small-sized chana from April 2025, although duty-free imports of yellow/white peas have been allowed till March 31, 2026.The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) has called for a “complete ban” on imports of yellow peas and also “high tariffs” on chana (chickpea/gram) and masoor (red lentil) in order to “restrict” their shipments.The agency, which recommends minimum support prices (MSP) that the Union government announces every year for 23 mandated crops planted by farmers, has said that “unrestricted cheap imports of pulses, particularly yellow peas, gram and lentil, have adversely affected domestic market prices”.The CACP’s proposal on banning/restricting the imports of the three major pulses comes ahead of the upcoming 2025-26 rabi cropping season.The Centre, on Wednesday, fixed an MSP of Rs 5,875 and Rs 7,000 per quintal for the chana and masoor crops, based on the CACP’s latest rabi price policy report. India imported a record 72.56 lakh tonnes (lt) of pulses worth $5.48 billion during 2024-25 (April-March). The 72.56 lt included 21.67 lt of yellow/white peas (mainly from Canada and Russia), 16.14 lt of chana (from Australia) and 12.19 lt of masoor (from Canada, Australia and United States).The Centre had, in December 2023, scrapped the import duty on yellow/white peas, while doing the same for chana in May 2024. These measures were taken in view of high food inflation.Annual consumer price inflation in pulses stood at double-digits for 15 consecutive months from June 2023 to August 2024 on the back of a poor crop. But with production recovering in 2024-25 and good monsoon rains this year, there has been a softening of both food and pulses inflation to minus 0.7 per cent and minus 14.9 per cent respectively in August.That could prompt a reversal of the present import policy. The Centre did re-impose a 10 % duty on small-sized chana from April 2025, although duty-free imports of yellow/white peas have been allowed till March 31, 2026.Harish Damodaran is National Rural Affairs & Agriculture Editor of The Indian Express. A journalist with over 33 years of experience in agri-business and macroeconomic policy reporting and analysis, he has previously worked with the Press Trust of India (1991-94) and The Hindu Business Line (1994-2014). ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:agricultural policy