7 months ago
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Arecanut imports to India which had fallen successful 2023-24 changeable up again successful the past fiscal year.
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal told the Lok Sabha connected Tuesday that India imported 42,236.02 tonnes (valued astatine ₹1,208.34 crore) of arecanut successful the past fiscal twelvemonth erstwhile compared to 40,386.48 tonnes (valued astatine ₹1,225.70 crore) imported successful 2023-24. The arecanut imported during 2022-23 stood astatine 78,233.66 tonnes (valued astatine ₹2182.33 crore).
The Minister said India imported 12,155.40 tonnes of arecanut valued ₹447.76 crore from Bangladesh successful 2024-25, followed by 11,589.56 tonnes valued astatine ₹129.35 crore from Indonesia, 8,353.70 tonnes valued astatine ₹303.70 crore from Sri Lanka, 7,569.03 tonnes valued astatine ₹278.24 crore from Myanmar, and 1436.47 tonnes valued astatine ₹3.89 crore from Bhutan.
The Minister’s reply was to a question by B.Y. Raghavendra, Shivamogga MP.
Mr. Goyal said India imported arecanut from different countries specified arsenic UAE, Malaysia, Oman, Singapore, and Thailand.
Flagging the contented of arecanut import to India from slightest developed countries (LDCs) successful the Lok Sabha connected Monday, Capt. Brijesh Chowta, Dakshina Kannada MP, said that large-scale imports from Bhutan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka person been adversely affecting India’s home arecanut market, severely impacting farmers successful cardinal producing regions, including the coastal and Malnad belts of Karnataka.
Capt. Chowta said that those countries presently bask zero customs work nether India’s Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF) preferential commercialized strategy — a proviso primitively intended to enactment LDC economies and present being misused successful a mode that harms Indian farmers.
The zero-duty model has resulted successful low-cost, inferior-quality arecanut flooding the Indian market, destabilising prices and pushing cultivators into distress. Between September 2023 and August 2024, Bhutan accounted for 57% of each arecanut import shipments, followed by Myanmar astatine 39%, and Sri Lanka astatine astir 2%.
Large volumes of zero-duty imports proceed to participate the country, creating a steep and unfair terms disparity that erodes the competitiveness of farmers successful large increasing regions, helium said.
Capt. Chowta pointed retired that mean arecanut imports pull 100% basal customs duty, but the DFQF exemption nullifies this extortion entirely. This loophole has led to terms crashes, marketplace instability and heavy economical anxiousness among lakhs of cultivators whose livelihoods beryllium connected the crop.
