Shimla, December 25:
Education Minister Rohit Thakur on Thursday slammed the Centre’s decision to slash import duty on New Zealand apples from 50% to 25% under the FTA, calling it a direct betrayal of Himachal’s orchardists and a blow to the state’s Rs 5,000-crore apple economy.
Thakur said apple farming is the backbone of Himachal’s hill economy and accused the Centre of going back on repeated assurances to protect domestic growers.
He also targeted the virtual scrapping of the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), saying the Centre withdrew its share from 2023 onwards and cut the MIS budget from about Rs 4,000 crore in 2022–23 to a token Rs 1 lakh in 2023–24.
Despite financial stress, the Himachal government released nearly Rs 160 crore from its own resources over the past three years for MIS procurement, including Rs 90 crore liability of the previous BJP regime, he said, adding that the entire burden was unfairly shifted to the state.
Warning of wider fallout, Thakur said the New Zealand deal could trigger similar duty cuts for other apple-exporting countries, especially the US, further hurting Indian growers. He also flagged cheap imports from Iran and Afghanistan, saying apples could be dumped at around Rs 35 per kg, against a local production cost of about Rs 45 per kg.
Calling the April–August duty concession window misleading, he said imports during the peak harvest season from mid-June to August would depress prices and damage growers, including those investing in high-density plantations.
The minister criticised Himachal BJP leaders and MPs for failing to defend the state’s interests and demanded an immediate rollback of the duty cut, restoration of higher import duties and revival of the Centre’s share in the MIS.
