Responding to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans assertion that the import duty on apple had been levied at a maximum of 50% as agreed under the WTO pact, growers said the cess on the US produce was 70% since 2019.
The apple growers have been demanding the increase of the import duty on apple to 100 per cent, especially on the cheap produce coming from Iran thats hurting the domestic farmers a lot. If the government wants, it can put apple in the special category status. It can then easily raise the duty, said Lokinder Bisht, president, Progressive Growers Association.