In a bid to augment domestic supplies as well as provide "relief to consumers" from high prices, the government on Monday reduced the basic customs duty on imports of Masur dal to zero and halved the agriculture infrastructure development cess on the lentil to 10 percent.

With the reduction in basic customs duty and the cess, the effective import duty on Masur dal will come down to 10 percent from 30 percent. The reduced basic customs duty and cess will come into effect from Tuesday. Notifications in this regard were tabled in both houses of Parliament by FM Nirmala Sitharaman. "To give relief to consumers, Government has reduced Customs Duty on Masur Dal from 30 percent to 10 percent. (Basic Customs Duty reduced from 10 percent to 'Nil' and Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess reduced from 20 percent to 10 percent). This will bring down the retail price of Masur Dal," the finance ministry said.

According to the notifications, the basic customs duty has been reduced from 10 percent to nil on lentils (masur dal) originated in or exported from countries other than the US. Also, the basic customs duty has been reduced to 20 percent from 30 percent on lentils originating in or exported from the US. Further, the Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC) on lentils has been reduced from the present rate of 20 percent to 10 percent. Retail price (model) of masur dal has increased by 21 percent to Rs 85 per kg now from Rs 70 per kg on April 1, this year, as per the data maintained by the consumer affairs ministry.

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