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A. J. Vinayak

Mangalore, June 29 Despite being a major arecanut producer in the world, India imported more than 76,000 tonnes of the commodity at a unit value of Rs 14.42 a kg during 2006-07.

According to ‘Area and production statistics of arecanut and spices’, published by the Kozhikode-based Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development (DASD) in May 2008, India occupies the top position in arecanut production globally, contributing 56 per cent to the world’s production.

The global arecanut production during 2006 was 8.54 lakh tonnes.

A look at the import figures of the last six years shows that the import of the commodity has increased steadily over the years.

According to the DASD data base, the country imported 76,678 tonnes of arecanut worth Rs 110.65 crore during 2006-07 as against 53,275 tonnes of arecanut worth Rs 72.28 crore during 2005-06. This shows that the country witnessed 43.92 per cent increase in the quantity of imported arecanut during the period.

The unit value at which the commodity was imported came down over the years. The value of imported commodity, which stood at Rs 17.59 a kg in 2001-02, decreased to Rs 14.42 a kg during 2006-07.

It may be mentioned that the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd on several occasions had submitted memorandums to the Central Government requesting it to control imports of the commodity.

It had said in the memorandum that the commodity was undervalued while importing.

In a notification dated June 4, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had allowed the import of arecanut with c.i.f. (cost, insurance and freight) value at Rs 35 a kg and above.

There would be no scope for undervaluing the commodity with this move.

Sources in the arecanut sector said import figures in 2007-08 could go further up, as there was large-scale import of the commodity during the period from countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand.

The import data for 2007-08 are yet to be made available.

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