In the interest of the apple growers of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has appealed to the central government to reconsider its decision of reducing import duty on Washington Apple.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday, he said that the Union Government’s decision to reduce the import duty on Washington apples from 70 percent to 50 per cent was against the interests of apple growers of the state.
For a long time, the orchardists of Himachal Pradesh have been demanding to increase the import duty on all types of foreign apples from 70 percent to 100 percent, he added.
He said that instead of increasing an import duty, the central government has reduced the import duty on Washington Apple by 20 per cent, which was against the interests of apple growers besides affecting their economy and the economy of the state as well.
The Chief Minister said that he would take up the issue with the Central government and demanded that the import duty on all types of foreign apples be increased to 100 percent.
“During 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to increase the import duty on foreign apples and to blend 5 percent apple concentrate in all types of cold drinks.”
“However, the decision of the Union government to reduce the import duty will decrease the demand for Himachal apples in the International market, thereby directly affecting the growers,” he said.