With the inflation, based on the consumer price index, touching 7.44 per cent in July, up from 4.87 per cent in May, India may look at increasing imports of key food items with a view to containing prices. The surge in CPI has been driven by food prices. The government’s primary focus now is on containing food inflation. Import duties of key food items could be slashed or even brought to nil to ease sourcing.
India is already considering either reducing or even abolishing import tax on wheat which is at 40 per cent, in an attempt to boost supplies. The source added that though India is looking at imports from a host of countries, efforts are on to tap the neighboring nations for logistics convenience.
While Nepal is supplying tomatoes, India has decided to continue imports of potatoes from Bhutan. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare stated that it ‘approved the proposal of import of tomatoes from Nepal to India by following necessary phytosanitary conditions’. India has been importing potatoes from Bhutan as well. The import exemption was to end on June 30, but the Director General of Foreign Trade has extended the measure. As per the new import notification, imports of potatoes from Bhutan is permitted freely, without any license, up to June 30 2024.
Source: indianarrative.com
