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Uttarakhand rice millers dump Chinese sorting machines, opt for Japanese
Although the Japanese machines are costlier than the Chinese ones, rice millers opted for them because of the sentiments to boycott Chinese products.
Amid a call to boycott Chinese products following the death of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan valley in Ladakh in a clash with PLA troops, rice millers of Uttarakhand’s US Nagar district have cancelled purchase order of Chinese rice sorting machines and opted for Japanese ones despite a price difference. of ₹5 lakh.
US Nagar has around 257 rice mills out of which 174 have already installed the rice sorting machines. The machines installed in the mills usually used to be the Chinese ones and were delivered through an Indian company.
They were more in demand due to their low prices in comparison to the Japanese variants. However, after the Galwan Valley clash, the rice millers voluntarily decided not to use the Chinese machines and opted for Japanese ones. These machines are used for sorting out fine grains from the discoloured and broken ones before packaging.
“I had given order to a Chinese company through its Indian agent for purchasing and procuring rice sorting machines, but following the standoff and a call of boycotting of Chinese products, I have cancelled the order. I have now placed an order to a Japanese company for the supply of the machine,” said Rajesh Bansal, a rice miller in Rudrapur area.
Ghanshyam Mittal, another rice miller of Rudrapur, said, “At least 12 rice millers had placed an order with a Chinese company. Now, they have changed their mind and placed the order with a Japanese company.”
Mittal added, “We have cancelled the order despite knowing that the Japanese ones are costly.
On the difference in the price between the two variants of the machine Bansal said, “The Chinese machines cost about ₹18 lakh while the Japanese ones cost about ₹23 lakh. There is a difference of ₹5 lakh but we’ll bear the additional cost for the nation.”
