Following the imposition of annual import ceiling on pigeon peas (tur dal) fixed at two lakh tonne last month in response to the glut in the domestic market, the Centre has allowed an additional 40,000-44,000 tonne of the pulse to be imported. This has been done to accommodate the orders already paid for by traders prior to the restriction. It was brought to the notice of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade that some traders had already given advance to foreign suppliers before the import ceiling was imposed. Since they can’t get their money back they are being allowed to import the contracted amount. When the government imposed the import restriction of an annual 2 lakh tonne on tur dal, the import limit had almost been reached. So the additional amount that is coming to the market is just restricted to the 44,000 tonne of pigeon peas that was contracted before the restriction was imposed.