# Pulses: Stocks

How India's buffer stock is used to cool dal prices

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/stocks/

How India's buffer stock is used to cool dal prices What this tab covers How much is left and how much is held. For minerals and energy: reserves, current output, years of supply and recycling for the top five countries. For farm commodities: production, ending stocks and stocks-to-use for the top five producers (USDA, October 2026). It also covers inventories and stockpiles.

#### Recycling

Pulses are not recycled. India keeps a pulses buffer through NAFED and NCCF under the Price Stabilisation Fund, with a norm of 3.5 Mt; holdings were 2.48 Mt in September 2025 (moong 0.90 Mt, masoor 0.64 Mt, tur 0.60 Mt). The buffer is used for open-market sales and subsidised retail sales such as Bharat Dal when prices rise. The government also imposes stock limits on traders and millers during shortages.

Dry pulses store well for a year or more, so stocks carry over between seasons and smooth supply. The decisive inventories are Indian. The government keeps a buffer stock of pulses through state agencies and releases it to cool prices, and it imposes stock limits on traders when prices rise. Exporters in Canada and Australia hold farm and port stocks, which build up whenever Indian import policy shuts the door.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/production/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pulses/links/index.md)