Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, on Friday, appealed to the Centre to immediately stop the illegal import of raisins from China, especially when a large amount of inferior raisins are being imported from there by evading taxes, causing huge losses to grape-growing farmers and national revenue.

In letters to the Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the Deputy Chief Minister has demanded that necessary measures be taken immediately to prevent financial losses to grape-growing farmers by keeping the prices of raisins stable.

He drew the Ministers’ attention to the problems of grape-growing farmers in Maharashtra and the country.

“Illegal import of low-quality raisins from China has increased. Raisins are being brought to India in large quantities by evading import taxes and duties. This tax evasion is causing loss to the government’s revenue and causing loss to the country’s revenue. Due to illegal imports during this season, the prices of raisins produced by farmers in the country have fallen by Rs 150 per kg. This has affected grape-growing farmers and they are facing huge financial losses,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Taking to social media platform X, he added: “Large-scale imports of low-quality raisins from China, evading taxes, are causing significant losses to grape-producing farmers in the state and to national revenue. The illegal import of raisins from China must be stopped immediately. Necessary measures should be urgently taken to stabilise raisin prices and prevent financial losses to grape-producing farmers, as demanded through a letter to the Central government.”

He added that to prevent this, the Central government should take immediate measures.

Strict action should be taken to stop illegal import and sale of raisins, he said.

“In order to check the quality of imported raisins and to ensure proper and accurate tax collection, the investigation and tax collection system should be made efficient at ports, airports and markets,” the Deputy Chief Minister added.

He demanded that necessary measures should be taken immediately to keep the prices of raisins in the market stable during the current season and prevent possible losses to farmers.

–IANS

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