Horticulture Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi today said in the Vidhan Sabha that the Central Government had reduced import duty on US apple to 50 per cent though PM Modi had promised that it would be increased. The decision would severely hit the apple growers of Himachal, he added.
Negi was speaking while participating in a debate under Rule 61 on a motion moved by Theog MLA Kuldeep Rathore on a complete switchover to universal cartons for packaging of apple. He said that after the recent G-20 Summit in New Delhi, the Prime Minister had assured America that import duty on apple would be further reduced. “The duty reduction will enable cheaper Washington apple arrive in large quantities, affecting the apple growers of Himachal,” he claimed.
Earlier, Rathore pointed out that though the decision to sell apple by weight was a historic one, there were some expected teething problems that could be removed with a complete switchover to universal cartons. “The Rs 5,000 crore apple economy of Himachal is getting hit due to imports from foreign countries. The reduction in import duty on apple to 50 per cent will make the situation even worse for Himachal horticulturists,” he said.
Negi said that the state government had decided to completely switch over to universal grading standards to facilitate packaging of 23 kg quality apple in boxes. “We took the decision that apple would be sold by weight in the state to fulfil the long-pending demand of growers. However, we could not switch over to universal cartons as growers had stocks of telescopic cartons purchased last year,” he added.
PM assured USA of slashing duty further
- The duty reduction will enable cheaper Washington apple to arrive in large quantities, affecting the apple growers in Himachal Pradesh
- After the G-20 Summit, the PM had assured the US of further reducing the import duty on apple