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Himachal growers want ban on apple import, urge govt to release ₹24-cr dues
In 2021 alone, government agencies – Himachal Pradesh State Co-operative Marketing and Consumers Federation Ltd (Himfed) and Horticultural Produce Marketing Corporation (HPMC) – procured nearly 70,000 metric tonnes of apples under the scheme.
With the apple season approaching, growers in Himachal Pradesh have urged the state government to release the ₹24 crore it owes them for fruits bought under the marketing intervention scheme.
The state government is yet to release payment for fruits procured over the last three years. In 2021 alone, government agencies – Himachal Pradesh State Co-operative Marketing and Consumers Federation Ltd (Himfed) and Horticultural Produce Marketing Corporation (HPMC) – procured nearly 70,000 metric tonnes of apples under the scheme.
On Tuesday, a delegation of fruit growers, led by Jubbal-Kotkhai legislator Rohit Thakur, called on governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and sought his intervention in the matter.
Asserting that apple growers contribute 13.5% to the state’s gross domestic product, Thakur, a three-time legislator, said, “The horticulture industry is going through a tough time due to ever-increasing input costs. I have sought the governor’s intervention for the immediate release of pending arrears.”
Reduce GST on packaging material: Growers
In the memorandum submitted to Arlekar, growers demanded that the goods and service tax (GST) on packaging material be reduced, the subsidies on insecticides and pesticides be restored and the price of fungicides be controlled.
“There has been a 40-50% increase in the price of packaging material. A bundle of apple packaging trays now costs around ₹200. Private suppliers attribute the increase in cost to the 12%-18% increase in GST. Earlier, HPMC and Himfed would invite tenders for supplying cartons. However, as they have discontinued with the practice, there is no control on prices,” stated the memorandum.
Seek blanket ban on apple imports
The growers sought a blanket ban on apple imports, and demanded that the import duty on the fruit be increased in the meantime. “Due to a 50% import duty, imported apples are flooding the Indian market, causing huge losses to the apple growers. Apples from Turkey and Iran adversely impact the prices of Himachal apples in cold storage. The BJP had said that apples will be given special-product status, and the import duty on apples will be increased, but to no avail,” the growers said.
They also sought compensation for the loss caused due to inclement weather conditions last year when snowfall and hailstorms in spring caused farmers losses to the tune of ₹284 crore in the apple growing regions of Shimla, Mandi, Kullu, Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti.
Flagging the slow pace of the Horticulture Mission Project, which was initiated in 2016, growers said that of ₹1,100 crore earmarked for the project, only ₹556 crore had been spent.
