India bans lentils export till March 2007

Due to the shortage of lentils in India, India has decided to ban export of lentils to other countries. This decision was taken by the Indian government to control the prices at India.
Due to this ban shops at Bay Area have started restricting the amount of Dal that each person can buy.

In a cluttered Aisle 5 at Bharat Bazar in the Irvington district, 36 printouts are posted on shelves, serving notice to customers purchasing lentils.
The notices state that "all dal prices have increased" and inform customers that "the price on bag is not valid." Others set a limit of two dals (bags) per person and declare that the store will not accept returns or provide refunds for lentil purchases.

The pulses that are covered under the ban are chickpea, dried leguminous vegetables, including shelled ones, peas, black matpe (urad), arhar (pigeon pea), small red beans, broad beans, red kidney beans and split beans.

Before this recent surge, 10 pounds bag of lentils costed around $5.99, whereas now the cost for a 2 pounds bag of lentils is around $4.99.

(Sources: ChicoER, Hindu BusinessLine)

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