Srinagar: Mohammad Akbar Dar, a seasoned apple grower, expanded his business after the growth of cold storage facilities in Kashmir.
This year, he is worried. The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement has proposed to reduce the import tax on apples.
“We are certainly going to face losses. The reduction of tax for imported apples means death to the local industry. Kashmir is the biggest apple-producing state and will suffer because of this move, ” he said.
Growers and dealers fear the move could flood the Indian market with cheaper imported apples just as Kashmir’s cold-stored produce begins to arrive on shelves.
Under the agreement, New Zealand will receive limited preferential access to the Indian apple market through a tariff-rate quota. Imports within the quota—starting at 32,500 metric tonnes (MT) and rising to 45,000 MT over six years—will attract a reduced duty of 25 per cent. Shipments beyond this quota will continue to face the full 50 per cent import duty, along with a minimum import price of $1.25 per kg. India has retained safeguards such as minimum import prices and seasonal restrictions.
But growers said these safeguards offer little comfort.
“The timing is disastrous for us,” said Bashir Ahmad Basheer, chairman of the Kashmir Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union.
According to him, the reduced duty will apply from April to August—the peak period when cold-stored Kashmiri apples are released into the market.
“Our cold storage apples will take a massive hit through this agreement,” Bashir said. “We have been informed that the tax reduction will remain from April to August, exactly when our stored apples reach the market. This means losses worth crores. Nearly three lakh metric tonnes of apples—over 15 per cent of our total produce—are kept in cold storage and sold during this period.”
Dealers echoed his concern, pointing out that imported apples, even within quotas, could undercut domestic prices, squeezing margins already weakened by rising input costs, erratic weather, and transportation expenses.
Kashmir produces the bulk of India’s apples and supports thousands of livelihoods—from orchardists and packers to transporters and traders. Any prolonged price pressure, growers said, could have cascading effects across the Valley’s rural economy.
Bashir said the union has already taken up the matter with the government, urging it to reconsider the duty reduction. “We have conveyed clearly that lowering import taxes on apples at this stage will damage the Valley’s fruit industry beyond repair,” he said.
An official from the horticulture department said the valley apples have a niche market, which will not get disturbed by the imports.