Srinagar: Amidst the apprehensions of rising imports, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the government on Sunday said that Govt would review security for homegron apples, while underlining the need to balance between the interests of producers and the needs of consumers.In a meeting with trade and industry here, the minister’s comment came from the US amid demands of low tariffs on apples and other farm items as part of the initial installment of a bilateral trade deal from the US. India has expressed its reluctance to reduce import duty on agricultural products by controlling the entry of genetically modified maize and soybean.Goyal said that the government has fixed the minimum import price of Rs 50 per kg and also has 25% import duty, which translates to a safety of about Rs 75 per kg and at least Rs 125-150 per kg. With domestic prices associated with the cost of imported goods, Goyal argued that a rapid increase in security would further increase retail prices, making them unattractive to consumers and damage the overall demand.He said, “To give the country a taste of Kashmir apple, the price must be cheaper. We need to balance between the interests of producers and consumers. We will see if MIPs and other security can be increased,” he said.With not producing with increasing demand, India imports 4.5–5 lakh tonnes of apples, with Türkiye among the largest sources. The US is trying to avoid Turki by demanding preference duty access.Goyal said that the local business government was making efforts to increase the export of Indian goods through free trade agreements. Saying that the Modi government kept the interests of the country paramount, they also said that trade liberalization could not be a road and as part of trade deals, both countries needed to open markets.He said that the new rail link from Kashmir would help to move the goods rapidly in the rest of the country and assured businesses that the development work would be pushed by the center.Given that the Pahalgam terror attack was to hurt the economy in tourism and Kashmir, the minister said that the business is returning to normal and tourism flow has also increased.
