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The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) has urged the Union Commerce Minister to review the Merchandise Exports from India (MEIS) Scheme rates announced in the current Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) for cashew kernel exports and restore it to levels that prevailed during the last fiscal (5 and 7 per cent incentive) for all destinations.
In a letter to Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, CEPCI Chairman TKSH Musaliar said that the duty eligibility for all other tree nuts such as almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios and peanuts have been retained at 5 per cent for all countries. However, for cashew kernels the incentive has been slashed to 2 per cent for traditional markets as well as emerging and focus markets while no incentive is being offered to the rest.
He said cashew is an agri-product and village industry which was hitherto covered under the Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana with 5 per cent incentive. It is one of the most labour intensive industries in India, providing employment to over 10 lakh workers in farms and factories. Some 98 per cent of the workforce is women. Over 12 States in the country produce and process cashew. There are more than 4,500 processing units, almost all of them in the rural and semi-urban areas throughout the country.
In the foreign trade policy, support has been granted to cash crops such as tea, coffee, spices, marine products, etc., but not for cashew.
Though there is a mention that cashew has been supported as women centric products, the 5 per cent incentive available as VKGUY has now been slashed to 2 per cent under MEIS.
Cashew exporters, he said, are facing severe competition from Vietnam and West Africa. India used to be the world’s largest processor and exporter of cashew. On the contrary, the Indian industry is under tremendous pressure to regain its market share. Increase in labour costs and insufficient domestic production of raw cashewnuts have already eroded the competitiveness of the Indian cashew industry.
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