Himachal Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday called on Union Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industries Anand Sharma in New Delhi and sought central government’s help in increasing the import duty of the apples.
He said that apple growers in the state had suffered adversely due to foreign apple that resulted in the crash of the markets. Sukhu also demanded more Controlled Atmospheric (CA) stores for the apple growing areas, so that the local could store apples at the time of glut.
“We sought central government assistance for opening more fruit procession units in the state which will give boost to the apple economy spanning over Rs3000 crore,” said Sukhu.
He urged the Union Minister to set up a branch of Industrial Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) which would give job opportunity to the educated youth of state.