Lok Sabha Question No. 1513 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-05
Subject: Cashew Industry
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: N.K. PREMACHANDRAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1513 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05 th  MARCH,2018

## CASHEW INDUSTRY

## 1513. SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाͨणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंğी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that the banks are initiating coercive steps  against  the  cashew  industries  under  the  SARFAESI  Act,  for  realization  of  dues  on account of loan taken for cashew industry;
- (b) if so, the action taken by the Government to protect the industry;
- (c) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that the cashew industries are in loss due to the import export policy of the Government and non availability of raw cashew nuts;
- (d) if  so,  the action taken by the Government to make available the raw nuts at a reasonable price and withdraw the import duty; and
- (e) whether the Government proposes to direct the banks to stop the action under SARFAESI Act and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) (b)  &  (e):    The  Ministry  of  Finance  has  informed  that  Section  31(i)  of  the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest  (SARFAESI)  Act  says  that  provisions  of  the  Act  shall  not  apply  to  'any security interest created in Agriculture land and does not differentiate on the basis of any specific industries / commodities.  The SARFAESI Act empowers Banks to take action to recover debts due and does not include any provisions for intervention by Central Government in such action. Aggrieved debtors/ borrowers have recourse to DRTs through filling of securitisation Applications SAS, for which appeal lies before Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRAT).
- (c)  &  (d)  It  has  come  to  the  notice  of  the  Government  that  due  to  non  availability  of sufficient  quantity  of  raw  cashew  nut  and  higher  price  for  raw  cashew  nut  in  the

international  market,  the  cashew  industry  is  facing  the  prospect  of  a  demand  -  supply gap.

Considering the challenges being faced by the cashew industry and to promote trade, the  Government  has    taken  following  steps  to  ameliorate  the  loss  /crisis  of  cashew industry:

- i) Basic Custom Duty on import of raw  cashew nut has been reduced  from 5% to 2.5% in the current budget session .
2. ii) The rate of Goods and Service Tax (GST) has also been reduced to 5% from 12% for Cashew nuts.
3. iii) Under Mid Term Review of Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), MEIS for cashew has  been  revised  to  5%  for    cashew  kernel  and  7%  for  cashew  nut salted/roasted respectively, vide DGFT PN No.44/2015-20 dated 05.12.2017.
4. iv) on the request of the Cashew Industry, the Government of India has revised SION norms of export  of Cashew Kernel, from import of  Raw Cashew Nut under Advance Authorisation Scheme, to 5.04 kg  from earlier 4 kg vide PN no.12/2015-2020,DGFT, Department of Commerce.
- v) Department of Commerce has approved the Medium Term Framework (20172020)  Scheme  of  CEPCI  viz  Process  Mechanization  and  Automation  of Cashew Processing Units with financial outlay of Rs. 60 crore.
6. vi) With regard to availability of raw cashew nut, the Government of India has drawn  up strategies to increase domestic production by massive area expansion  of  cashew  and  replacing  of  senile  cashew    plantations  with  high yielding  varieties  in  traditional  and  non-traditional  states  under  National Horticulture  Mission(NHM)    through  State  Horticulture  Mission(SHM)  and State  owned  corporations.    As  such,  the  production  of  raw  cashew  nuts  in India  during  2016-17   has  registered  16%  increase  to  7,79,335 Metric  Tons compared to previous   production of  6,70,300 Metric Tons.

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