Bharat Dal, coming soon to an online grocer near you
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Virtual shelves of online grocers such as Amazon, Flipkart and Swiggy may soon see the debut of an unlikely item: Subsidized dal from the Government of India. The ministry of consumer affairs is expected to mandate e-commerce companies to offer cheaper pulses under the Bharat Dal scheme on their platforms, two people aware of the matter said.
The platforms, also including BigBasket, Blinkit, Zepto and Jio Mart, had earlier committed to retail subsidized pulses but most of them have yet to make the essential commodity available on their websites, limiting the impact of the scheme, the people said on the condition of anonymity. While quick-commerce companies Blinkit and Zepto have started selling subsidized pulses, that is not enough, the first person said. “All players have to sell it," the person said, “enabling consumers in urban and semi-urban areas to benefit from the scheme." Moong and masoor to chickpeas play a crucial role in India's food inflation.
While the pace of price rise for the key staple and a source of protein eased in October, demand continues to outstrip production. The output of pulses in India rose to 24.5 million tonnes (mt) in FY24 from 16.3 mt in FY16, but was short of the demand that increased to about 27 mt. The Bharat Dal scheme was introduced last year to offer pulses at cheaper prices when inflation in the category had soared to double digits.
The first phase was rolled out in July last year due to lower gram (chana) production and ended in June 2024. The second phase began in October this year. While online marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart can only host sellers and are not allowed to directly sell products to consumers, they agreed to
. Read more on livemint.com
