Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the import duty on apples from 50 percent to at least 100 percent to discourage the import of apples from Turkey and to safeguard the interests of the apple growers of Himachal Pradesh. He also urged that quantitative restrictions should be imposed on imported apples. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister said that Himachal Pradesh is known as Apple Bowl of the country and is famous for producing delicious varieties of apples. The apple is the prime cash crop of the State and generates an income of about Rs. 4500 crore annually. He said that about 10 lakh mandays are generated due to the apple crop, thereby providing direct and indirect employment to more than 2.50 lakh families. Sukhu stated that at present, apples are being imported from nearly 31 countries and about 5.19 lakh metric tonne of fresh apples was imported during the year 2024, an increase of 500 times as compared to 1100 metric tonne imported during the year 1998. He said that the import share from Turkey increased during the year 2020 and recorded the highest increase with 1.29 lakh metric tonne during 2023. He said that a substantial import of 1.17 lakh metric tonne was done from Turkey during 2024, which is 23 percent of the total apple import. He said that apples from Turkey have been flooding the Indian markets in recent years, which has posed a great threat to the apple growers of the country. "The influx of apples from Turkey has not only undermined the competitiveness of local apple producers but also jeopardizes the livelihoods of small and marginal apple growers of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir," he said. Sukhu said that he would also personally take up the issue of enhancing the import duty on apples being procured from Turkey with the Prime Minister during his upcoming visit to Delhi.

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