Centre Weighs Review of MSP Formula to Push Pulse Output

Aatmanirbharta Mission aims to make India self-sufficient in pulse production in a decade.

- Dhirendra Kumar

The Centre is exploring a plan to review the formula it uses to calculate the minimum support price (MSP) for key pulses such as tur (arhar), urad (black gram), chana (gram), and masur (lentils), four people familiar with the matter told Mint on condition of anonymity.

This comes amid rising concerns around stagnant production, growing imports, and skewed price incentives that fail to reflect current demand trends.

As per the proposed plan, which is in discussion, the government is exploring whether the current cost-based pricing mechanism adequately reflects the ground realities faced by farmers. The MSP has to be aligned with demand, consumption, and production patterns to incentivize farmers and encourage crop diversification, they said.

Floor prices that are the same as input costs, or even lower, discourage farmers from planting more pulses in the face of high import dependence.