The Union Government, which set a floor price of Rs 35 a kg for arecanut imported from other countries on June 4, 2008, seems to have allowed its import at a much lower price than that.
The details provided by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry to the Dakshina Kannada MP are an indication of the Government admitting the fact that arecanut imports have taken place at a price lower than the floor import price. In one case, the import price was as low as Rs 13.72 a kg.
In the un-starred question no. 1730 in Lok Sabha, the Dakshina Kannada MP, Mr Nalin Kumar Kateel, had raised the questions of import restrictions on arecanut, and the details regarding import from various countries in the last two years.
In its reply to the MP on March 7, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry stated that the import of arecanut is free subject to a floor price of Rs 35 a kg imposed since June 4, 2008. It also furnished details of imports from 10 countries during 2008-09 and 2009-10.
The country imported around 41,797 tonnes of arecanut worth Rs 98.30 crore in 2008-09 and around 39,526 tonnes worth Rs 94.40 crore in 2009-10 from countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Indonesia remained the major exporter of arecanut to India with 28,802 tonnes (worth Rs 59.99 crore) and 23,232 tonnes (Rs 41.60 crore) during 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively. With this, the average import price per kg stood at Rs 20.82 and Rs 17.90 during 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively, which is much below the floor price of Rs 35 a kg. In fact, the total production in Indonesia during 2009 stood at 52,000 tonnes.
Import of the commodity was done below Rs 18 a kg from Tanzania, Malaysia and Singapore; below Rs 20 a kg from Thailand; and below Rs 34 a kg from Bangladesh.
Of the 10 countries, arecanut imported from Sri Lanka was above the floor price of Rs 35 a kg. Sri Lanka exported 1,414 tonnes (worth Rs 7.16 crore) and 966 tonnes (Rs 4.49 crore) of arecanut during 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively. This worked out to an average price of Rs 50.64 a kg and Rs 46.46 a kg during 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively.
Apart from this, India imported arecanut from Kenya and Nepal at an average price of Rs 37.11 and Rs 35.84 a kg, respectively, during 2008-09. Myanmar arecanut was imported at Rs 36.96 a kg in 2009-10.
The Ministry had sourced statistics from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), Kolkata.
In its notification dated, June 4 2008, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had permitted import of the betel nut (commonly known as arecanut) with c.i.f. (cost, insurance and freight) value at Rs 35 a kg and above. The notification had then mentioned that whole, split, ground and other forms of betel nuts are allowed for import with policy condition that “Import permitted freely provided the c.i.f value is Rs 35/ kg and above”.
Mr S.R. Rangamurthy, the then President of Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd, had then told Business Line that there would not be scope for undervaluing the commodity while importing it to the country, with DGFT's notification.