The Union Government's decision to reduce the import duty on Washington Apple from 70 percent to 50 percent was against the interests of apple growers of the State, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said.
In a statement, he said since a long, the orchardists of Himachal Pradesh have been demanding to increase the import duty on all types of foreign apples from 70 percent to 100 percent.
Sukhu said that instead of increasing an import duty, the Central Government has reduced the import duty on Washington Apple by 20 percent, which was against the interests of apple growers besides affecting their economy and the economy of the state as well. He said that he would take up the issue with the Central Government and demanded that the import duty on all types of foreign apples be increased to 100 percent, appealing to the Central Government to reconsider its decision in view of the interests of the apple growers.
The Congress on Tuesday also condemned the central government's decision to reduce import duty on Washington (American) apples and said it would harm the interest of farmers of Himachal Pradesh.
AICC spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Rathore, who is also the sitting Congress MLA from Theog assembly seat (apple belt), said that the decision would cause harm to the apple industry of Himachal Pradesh.
"The apple growers are already under severe crisis due to an increase in the production cost following a rise in prices of pesticides, fungicides, labour and other packing materials caused due to inflation under the BJP rule," he added.
Himachal has an apple economy of Rs 5,000 crore.