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There has been over 100 per cent growth in the import of arecanut, both in terms of quantity and value, during the current financial year, the Centre told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Data provided to the Member of Parliament from Dakshina Kannada, Nalin Kumar Kateel, by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Anupriya Patel, showed that India imported 6,1452.21 tonnes of arecanut until November, compared to 25,978.98 tonnes during the entire financial year of 2021–22. That means arecanut imports went up by 136.35 per cent in the first eight months of 2022–2023.
The value of the imported arecanut went up from $90.18 million in 2021–22 to $217.8 million in the first eight months of 2022–23.
Myanmar major shipper
Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia were the major exporters of arecanut during the period. In fact, there was a more than 273 per cent increase in the import of arecanut from Myanmar in the first eight months of 2022–23 compared with the whole of 2021–22. Myanmar exported 28,589.22 tonnes of arecanut to India from April to November of 2022–23, compared with 7,645.77 tonnes in 2021–22, recording a growth of 273.92 per cent.
India imported arecanut valued at $99.59 million from Myanmar in the first eight months of 2022–23, compared with $27.12 million in 2021–22.
“Arecanut is imported from some countries, including Singapore and the UAE. However, there has been no import of arecanut from Bhutan in the last four years, including the current financial year,” the minister said.
Floor price for imports
On the measures being taken by the government to protect the interests of arecanut growers in the country, the Minister said the basic customs duty on the import of arecanut is already at a fixed rate of 100 per cent.
The import of arecanut is prohibited if the CIF (cost, insurance, and freight) value is below ₹251 per kg. “Precisely, the government has imposed the condition of a minimum import price of ₹251 per kg on arecanut to restrict the unabated import and to prevent entry of inferior quality arecanut into the domestic market and destabilization of the domestic prices,” she said.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) have developed the quality standards to restrict the import of low-quality arecanut, the minister said.
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