PANAJI
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave a huge relief to cashew processing units in Goa when he announced that custom duty on the import of raw cashews will come down from 5% to 2.5% while presenting the Budget 2018 on Thursday.
Cashew processing, which is one of Goa’s oldest industries, was demanding reduction in import duty of cashews for a long time. Only a minor percentage of cashews processed in Goa are actually grown in the State. Due to this, cashew processing firms have to import raw cashews from other countries like Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Joseph D’Souza, chairman of food processing committee of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), said, “The production of processed cashew nuts in the State far exceeds the production of raw nuts. The gap is filled by importing raw cashew nuts from other states of India and even from outside the country. 80% of cashews processed in Goa don’t grow in the State and a large portion of them come from countries like Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Therefore, it will help local cashew processing industry now that the import duty on raw cashews has been brought down from 5% to 2.5%.”
When asked how it will improve the margins of local processing industry, D’Souza replied, “It really depends upon the efficiency of the
local units.”
Manguirish Pai Raiker, chairman of National Council for MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) at ASSOCHAM, said, “The reduction in custom duty on the import of raw cashews is all thanks to Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu. The local industry had appealed to him to bring down custom duty when he was here in the State during the cashew convention.”
