Indian cashew industry meets more than half its requirement of raw cashew needed for processing from the Western African countries such as Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria, where the harvest season is on.
COVID-19 CASES
WorldIndiaConfirmed10,363Deaths339Confirmed1,917,320Deaths119,483KOCHI: The delay in permission by various state governments to operate processing units has led to an accumulation of cashew nuts at various stages of production across the country, causing huge loss to the industry.
The Federation of Indian Cashew Industry in a letter to the Centre has said around 15,000 tonnes of cashew kernels valued at Rs 9,000 crore are stuck in different stages of processing at the factories across India due to the lockdown.
The federation noted that though food processing has been declared as an essential service, many state governments have not given the permission to operate cashew units.
“The kernels are highly perishable and will get spoiled by the delay.
There is also a chance of infestation, if not preserved properly. We are ready to implement social distancing and sanitising norms while operating the units,’’ said RK Bhoodes, former chairman of Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI).
India is losing out to its competitors like Vietnam as a result of the disruption. “It will be difficult to recapture the market once we lose it to our competitors,’’ he said.
CEPCI has already written to the Kerala government to allow the processing units to resume operation, citing that Tamil Nadu has permitted its cashew units to function. The units in Kerala are already facing closures and bad debts. Only around 150 units are functioning out of around 800 in the cashew hub of Kollam.
“We have requested the Prime Minister to allow one-year moratorium on bank loans for industries under the NPA category,’’ said K Rajesh, convenor of Cashew Industry Protection Council. Indian cashew industry meets more than half its requirement of raw cashew needed for processing from the Western African countries such as Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria, where the harvest season is on.
Source: indiatimes.com
