Shimla, May 21 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase customs duty on apples from 50 to 100 per cent to discourage imports from Turkey and safeguard the interests of local farmers.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Sukhu said Himachal Pradesh is known as the 'Apple Bowl' of the country and is famous for producing delicious varieties of apple, and urged that quantitative restrictions should be imposed on imported apples.

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According to an official statement, Sukhu wrote to the Prime Minister that apple is the prime cash crop of Himachal Pradesh, generating an income of around Rs 4,500 crore annually. About 10 lakh man-days are created due to the apple crop, thereby providing direct and indirect employment to more than 2.50 lakh families.

The chief minister said currently apples are being imported from nearly 31 countries. About 5.19 lakh metric tonnes of fresh apples were imported in 2024, which is 500 times more than the 1,100 metric tonnes imported in 1998.

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The import share from Turkey has increased since 2020, Sukhu said. The highest apple import from Turkey was recorded in 2023 at 1.29 lakh metric tonnes. A substantial 1.17 lakh metric tonnes of apple was imported in 2024, which amounted to 23 per cent of the total apple import.

Sukhu said apples from Turkey have been flooding the Indian markets in the recent years, which has posed a great threat to Indian apple-growers.

The influx of apples from Turkey has not only undermined the competitiveness of local apple producers but also jeopardises the livelihoods of small and marginal apple-growers of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

Sukhu said he would personally request the Prime Minister to enhance import duty on apples from Turkey during his upcoming Delhi visit.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)