Inter Ministerial Committee on prices and availability of essential food items chaired by Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs reviewed prices and availability of pulses and onions here. 

Imported dal is also being allocated to other States as per their requests received. Allocations to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have been made. 

The committee was also informed that a bid to import further 2000MT of Tur has been floated by MMTC. It will open on October 16. The successful bidder will ensure delivery of the Tur at the Indian ports by November 2015. 

The committee was also of the view that an independent expert agency dealing with commodities may also be involved in forecasting the availability and demand of the essential food commodities both at domestic as well as international level. This would facilitate to plan effective market intervention, well in advance, by the concerned Government agencies. 

The meeting was attended by senior officials of Department of Agriculture, MMTC, Mother Dairy and Kendriya Bhandar.