Lok Sabha Question No. 2810 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Import of Food Products
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: M.K. Vishnu Prasad

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2810

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 th MARCH, 2020

## IMPORT OF FOOD PRODUCTS

## 2810.   DR. VISHNU PRASAD M.K.:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वािण�य एवं उ�ोग मं�ी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of food products such as sugar, rice, onion and other items imported during each of the last three years and the current year;
- (b) the amount incurred for the import of such food items in Indian rupees;
- (c) whether a large amount of money is being spent on the import of such items instead of meeting demand through domestic production in the country;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the details of the steps likely to be taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

## okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=h ( Jh ih;w'k xks;y ) THE MINISTER OF  COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to  (d) : The  details  of  quantity  and  value  of  food  products  including  sugar,  rice  and  onion imported during last three years and the current year( April 2019 to January 2020) are given in Annexure . Imports take place to meet the gap between domestic production and supply and consumer demand and preferences for some of the food items.

(e): In  order  to  reduce  imports  of  food  products,  augmentation  of  domestic  production  is required for which Government has taken several steps.  National Food Security Mission (NFSM) was launched to increase the production of rice, wheat and pulses through area expansion and productivity  enhancement,  restoring  soil  fertility  and  productivity,  improvement in  cropping system, distributing of seeds of high yielding varieties, optimising use of farm machineries/resources, water application tools, plant protection measures, nutrient management/soil  ameliorants,  cropping  system  based  trainings  to  the  farmers  etc. In  addition, special  programmes  like  inter-cropping  of  pulses  with  sugarcane,  targeting  rice  fallow  area programme  and  special  programme  for  increasing  productivity  of  pulses  in  low  productivity districts of the country are being implemented during 2019-20 in the States suitable for production of  these  crops. The Government is also implementing Pradhan Mantri  Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) under  which the financial assistance is provided to set up food processing industries/projects/units  in the country  for enhancing the domestic production capacities of the processed food and reducing the dependency on import of food products.

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## Statement referred to in reply of part (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred question no. 2810 for answer on 11 th March 2020.

Import of Food Items under Principal Commodity Groups for last three years and current year (April 2019 to January 2020)

|         |                                   |           |             | (Quantity in Ton and Value in Rs.   | (Quantity in Ton and Value in Rs.   | (Quantity in Ton and Value in Rs.   | (Quantity in Ton and Value in Rs.   | (Quantity in Ton and Value in Rs.   | (Quantity in Ton and Value in Rs.   |
|---------|-----------------------------------|-----------|-------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| Sr. No: | Description                       | 2016-17   | 2016-17     | 2017-18                             | 2017-18                             | 2018-19                             | 2018-19                             | 2019-20 (Apr- Jan)                  | 2019-20 (Apr- Jan)                  |
|         |                                   | Quantity  | Value       | Quantity                            | Value                               | Quantity                            | Value                               | Quantity                            | Value                               |
| 1       | Fresh Fruits                      | 1057517   | 11290.62    | 994686                              | 12524.55                            | 1124178                             | 13931.65                            | 800012                              | 11700.51                            |
| 2       | Pulses                            | 6609475   | 28523.18    | 5607527                             | 18748.57                            | 2527876                             | 8035.30                             | 2628144                             | 8984.80                             |
| 3       | Cashew                            | 774504    | 9027.09     | 654019                              | 9134.33                             | 839634                              | 11162.32                            | 825479                              | 7668.89                             |
| 4       | Misc Processed Items#             |           | 2115.82     |                                     | 2249.73                             |                                     | 2560.20                             |                                     | 2209.55                             |
| 5       | Sugar                             | 2146157   | 6868.61     | 2402984                             | 6035.84                             | 1490599                             | 3175.39                             | 958569                              | 2106.87                             |
| 6       | Cocoa Products                    | 63612     | 1542.28     | 71258                               | 1473.10                             | 87595                               | 1845.89                             | 75186                               | 1595.00                             |
| 7       | Marine Products                   | 52015     | 633.39      | 44713                               | 793.30                              | 56933                               | 1088.13                             | 56069                               | 1061.27                             |
| 8       | Cereal Preparations               | 66470     | 579.03      | 71096                               | 659.68                              | 90576                               | 971.36                              | 82001                               | 859.32                              |
| 9       | Other Cereals                     | 311368    | 493.18      | 265129                              | 433.90                              | 244321                              | 471.28                              | 478588                              | 841.18                              |
| 10      | Coffee                            | 78041     | 926.81      | 77217                               | 996.50                              | 82772                               | 958.59                              | 76657                               | 837.94                              |
| 11      | Processed Fruits and Juices       | 42993     | 548.10      | 53585                               | 803.81                              | 59124                               | 909.34                              | 46329                               | 669.22                              |
| 12 12   | Fresh Vegetables Fresh Vegetables | 8551 8551 | 11.12 11.12 | 15650 15650                         | 25.64 25.64                         | 14752 14752                         | 24.22 24.22                         | 140615 140615                       | 546.68 546.68                       |
| 13      | Onion                             | 175       | 2.18        | 6723                                | 14.37                               | 7326                                | 12.02                               | 132106                              | 526.30                              |
| 14      | Tea                               | 24893     | 338.35      | 24939                               | 356.99                              | 28851                               | 417.96                              | 20268                               | 383.76                              |
| 15      | Dairy Products                    | 16906     | 254.84      | 23394                               | 312.59                              | 13643                               | 254.12                              | 15907                               | 285.17                              |
| 16      | Processed Vegetables              | 13323     | 115.26      | 15335                               | 134.83                              | 18098                               | 161.83                              | 30791                               | 231.12                              |
| 17      | Rice(Other than Basmoti)          | 1142      | 7.25        | 2123                                | 12.18                               | 6871                                | 32.14                               | 5023                                | 75.07                               |
| 18      | Poultry Products#                 |           | 29.46       |                                     | 26.87                               |                                     | 41.80                               |                                     | 37.77                               |
| 19      | Other Meat                        | 594       | 19.03       | 783                                 | 27.80                               | 876                                 | 30.65                               | 824                                 | 28.04                               |
| 20      | Milled Products                   | 3556      | 16.22       | 3276                                | 13.02                               | 4185                                | 15.60                               | 3630                                | 13.57                               |
| 21      | Sheep/Goat Meat                   | 124       | 8.50        | 215                                 | 13.36                               | 120                                 | 10.83                               | 162                                 | 13.21                               |
| 22      | Wheat                             | 5749430   | 8509.05     | 1649725                             | 2357.84                             | 2747                                | 5.44                                | 1665                                | 4.14                                |
| 23      | Processed Meat                    | 132       | 4.47        | 96                                  | 3.22                                | 120                                 | 4.14                                | 106                                 | 3.88                                |

Source: DGCI&S. * Provisional. # Quantity not available due to different measurement of units.

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