Team Herald
PANJIM: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Goa has urged the State government to roll back the one per cent cess being reintroduced on raw cashew nuts in order to save the cashew sector, which has traditionally been the livelihood for many Goan villagers and farmers even till date.
The CII Goa State Council Chairperson Swati Salgaocar said that the reintroduction of one per cent cess would not only defeat the very purpose of the Amendments made to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, it would also make trade unattractive for buyers, thus making cashew processing unviable in Goa as neighbouring States of Maharashtra and Karnataka have negligible or no such charges.
“Goa which had 40 operating cashew processing units in 2005, today has only 8-10 operational units and with such additional charges will lead to further closure of the remaining factories in Goa,” she said.
