50% import duty on apple was fixed by Congress: Meenakshi Lekhi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 5

Senior BJP leader and Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi today said that 50 per cent import duty on apple was fixed in an agreement with World Trade Organisation during the last UPA government. “It was the then Commerce Minister Anand Sharma who agreed to having 50 per cent import duty on apple. Once an international agreement is signed, it is difficult to wriggle out of it,” Lekhi said while addressing a press conference here today. “We are anyway trying to address the issues of apple growers,” she added.

The apple growers have been demanding that the import duty on apple should be raised to 100 per cent as the 50 per cent duty has not been able to deter import of the fruit much and the apple growers in Himachal and Kashmir are suffering huge losses due to the unbridled import from various countries.

“Having 50 per cent import duty 10 years back wasn’t hurting us as much as it is hurting now. We don’t accept that it can’t be revised, especially when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself promised to increase it,” said Harish Chauhan, convener of the Sanyukt Kisan Manch.

“Also, it was the Narendra Modi government that had increased the import duty to 70 per cent on Washington apple as a retaliatory measure. There are ways to enhance the duty if the government really wants to,” said Chauhan.

Meanwhile, listing out the achievements of the Modi government, Lekhi said the BJP government had done a lot of work in power reforms in the state and country. “Not long back heaters and refrigerators did not work properly in villages. Now, the people are getting quality power without interruption,” she said.

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