Key Details
Launched in October 2025, the ₹11,440 crore mission runs through 2030–31. Its first-year figures show progress in production and initial delivery of support measures; its production and infrastructure goals remain targets.
Measure | Position or Target |
|---|---|
Pulses production | 274.09 lakh tonnes in 2025–26, up from 256.83 lakh tonnes in 2024–25; the 2025–26 figure is a Third Advance Estimate |
Area and yield | Cultivation rose to 286.46 lakh hectares from 277.20 lakh hectares; yield rose to 957 kg per hectarefrom 926 kg |
2030–31 goal | Nearly 350 lakh tonnes of production from 310 lakh hectares, with yield of 1,130 kg per hectare |
Seeds | 87.5 lakh free seed kits planned over six years; 9.25 lakh distributed during Rabi 2025–26 |
Processing | 1,000 units envisaged; first-phase targets for 528 units allocated to states and Union Territories |
Pulses imports | Value fell 31.52%, from ₹46,427.60 crore in 2024–25 to ₹31,793.59 crore in 2025–26 |
Higher Output Came from Both More Land and Better Yields
India’s pulses production rose by 17.26 lakh tonnes in 2025–26, according to the latest advance estimate. Both the area under cultivation and average yield increased, giving the mission a stronger starting point than the preceding year. The six-year target nevertheless requires a further substantial rise in output.
The Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses focuses on tur, urad and masur. Its approach is to expand cultivation — including in fields left uncultivated after the rice harvest — while supplying improved and climate-resilient seeds. Support is concentrated through clusters across 489 identified districts, rather than relying on an acreage target alone.
Procurement and Processing Are Part of the Production Strategy
Higher output will matter to farmers only if they can sell it on viable terms. For 2025–26 to 2028–29, the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) are authorised to procure tur, urad and masur offered by willing, registered farmers. This is an assurance for eligible produce offered through the mechanism, not a statement that all pulses grown nationally will be purchased.
The mission also envisages 1,000 pulse-processing units to strengthen post-harvest capacity. The first-phase allocation of targets for 528 units marks a planning step; it does not mean those units are already operating. Together, procurement and processing are intended to make expanded cultivation commercially workable.
Lower Import Spending Is Encouraging, but Not Yet Self-Sufficiency
The value of pulses imports declined by 31.52% in 2025–26, while export value increased 13.40% to about US$970 million. These trade figures sit alongside higher domestic production, but a fall in the import bill alone does not establish that India can meet its pulses needs without imports. Import values can change with both quantities and prices.
Policy Relevance
The mission links nutritional security and lower import dependence to a practical farm-level question: can yields rise consistently while farmers have dependable access to seeds, procurement and processing? Expanding acreage without those supporting systems would address only part of the production gap.
Two measures will be particularly useful as the mission advances:
Productivity and delivery: Track yields in the focused districts alongside seed-kit distribution and the number of processing units actually established—not only targets allocated.
Market balance: Assess domestic production against consumption and import volumes, while monitoring whether procurement supports growers without creating avoidable pressure on consumer prices.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: Which gains in yield, market access and processing capacity would show that the first year’s higher output is becoming a durable reduction in India’s dependence on pulses imports?
Follow the Full Update Here: India’s Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses