BENGALURU: Growers of black pepper and areca nut have suffered a loss of Rs 1.26 lakh crore due to the government’s decision to import the two produce, the Aam Aadmi Party said and demanded an inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate alleging violations of laws like SAFEMA and FERA among others to facilitate the import.
AAP’s Brijesh Kalappa said Karnataka grows the finest areca nut and black pepper in the entire world. “The Central government decided to import areca nut from Bhutan via Nepal and has also permitted import of black pepper from Vietnam via Sri Lanka for the very first time. Growers of these agricultural produce are aggrieved by the decision of the Centre to allow import when there is sufficient production of areca and black pepper in the country for domestic consumption.
We demand that heavy import duty, which is punitive in nature, be imposed on the import of these two produce,” he said. He said what is completely unfathomable is the fact that while PM Modi harps on the subject of ‘Make in India’ why is he encouraging ‘grow elsewhere and import to India’ instead of ‘Grow in India’?