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Political rivals in Himachal Pradesh are squabbling over the apple, the principal cash crop, as apple growers demand a hike in the customs duty on imported apples on the eve of voting on Sunday.
With incumbent BJP on the back foot over the issue, the Congress Party has promised to increase the customs duty to support the home-grown apple. But apple growers view this promise as a frivolous commitment because they believe the party has not taken a single measure to resolve the issue over the years.
The apple farmer’s contention is that, owing to imported apples coming into the state, the home-grown fruit is losing its business. In the last five years, apple traders have faced losses of about Rs 5,000 crore due to imported apples. The customs duty is at 50 per cent; they want this raised to 75 per cent.
“There is resentment among the apple growers and this could be deciding factor in regions of the state that produce apples,” said Kisan Sangharsh Samiti secretary, Sanjay Chauhan. He believes apples should be added to the special category produce — along with hydropower and tourism — because of their importance to the economy.
Nearly 400,000 people are involved in the approximately Rs 4,500 crore apple economy. Despite being an important part of the state economy, apple farmers have been facing stiff competition from imported apples.
“Cheaper imports of apples, especially the Fuji apples, used to come from countries like China which had dented the profits. Somehow we managed to increase the duty on it and now it has stopped. But we are now facing tough competition from the Washington apple. Moreover, this year apple production is expected to be really high and so we are anticipating a lower price of Rs 1,000-1,200 per carton as it is,” said Thakur Attar Singh, an apple trader in Shimla.
Farmers here are in real distress as the government has withdrawn the entire subsidy while, simultaneously, inputs prices have increased. Some standard fertilisers have risen by Rs 1,000 for 50kg. On top of this, GST has increased overall operational costs.
What irks farmers is that, in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the Lok Sabha election campaign, promised to work for the development of Himachal Pradesh because he had a special affection for it and understood its needs. If that is so, they are asking, why is a rise in the import duty, five years later, nothing more than a mere assurance in the BJP's agenda?
“The central government had previously pondered raising the import duty to 75 per cent in retaliation for US tariff hikes. But, today tariffs are a part of the External Affairs Ministry as they are part of the Commerce Ministry and global tariff wars. So I believe the government will decide at an appropriate time on import duty on apples,” said Anurag Thakur, the BJP candidate from Hamirpur.
This assurance doesn’t cut much ice with Chauhan. He remembers when, prior to ‘90s, the import duty used to be 150-200 per cent. He wants it to be increased now to 100 per cent. The Congress Party’s assurances don’t convince him either. “It was the party responsible for reducing the import duty to 52 per cent. So, whichever party comes to power, we will protest for our livelihood,” he said.
Ashray Sharma, the Congress candidate from Mandi, has been making all the right noises. “The PM had promised that import duty would be increased on apples but unfortunately that has not happened. On the contrary, double the amount of apples is being imported,” Sharma said.
The basic cost of farmers is also not getting fulfilled. It is a very grave issue. If we make the government, it will be our top priority," said Sharma.
