SHIMLA/NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday strongly pitched for Himachal Pradesh’s apple growers, urging Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to include apples in a special protection list to shield the sector from unchecked foreign imports.
Raising the issue in a meeting in New Delhi, the Chief Minister demanded a seasonal ban on apple imports from July to November, the peak harvesting period in Himachal, and sought 100 percent import duty during off-season months to discourage dumping of foreign apples in Indian markets.
Advocating for over 2.5 lakh apple growers, Sukhu said the state’s apple economy—worth nearly Rs 4,500 crore annually—was under serious threat due to unfair international competition. Apples contribute nearly 80 percent of Himachal’s total fruit production, he pointed out.
“This is not just about fruit. It is about the survival of 2.5 lakh families and the generation of nearly 10 lakh man-days of employment,” the Chief Minister said, adding that small and marginal farmers were being pushed to the brink by trade policies favouring foreign corporations.
Sukhu also flagged concerns over the Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand, stating that apple imports from the country had increased 2.5 times in the last ten years.
He said the 25 percent duty exemption on New Zealand apples between April and August was crashing prices of local produce stored in CA and cold storage facilities, badly hurting off-season trade.
The Chief Minister informed the Union Finance Minister that a delegation of progressive orchardists had recently met him and expressed deep concern over reduced import duties on foreign apples.
Calling for quantitative restrictions on apple imports, Sukhu urged the Centre to take urgent steps to protect the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers.
Later, speaking to the media, the Chief Minister also questioned the “stony silence” of Himachal’s BJP leadership and challenged them to raise the issue of apple growers at the Centre in the larger interest of the state.
