Kathmandu, January 10
While farmers in Jhapa are complaining that betel nuts produced last year have not been sold yet, the government is preparing to open import of 25,000 tons of betel nuts.
A proposal to approve the import of 25,000 metric tons of betel nuts on the recommendation of the Department of Industry is being submitted to the Council of Ministers, a source told to news channels. But in Nepal, only 8,000 metric tons of betel nut is consumed for industrial purposes.
A few days ago, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies had submitted a file to the Prime Minister with a proposal to approve the import of betel nut by lifting the quantitative restriction. ”The file of betel nut import has been approved by the Prime Minister in his capacity as the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. It will be submitted to the Council of Ministers soon,” the source said.
An official said that the process of lifting the ban on import of betel nut has been started by
making new procedure 2078 regarding import of betel nut, corn, chilli and chhokada as raw
material of the industry.
According to the Department of Industry, the industries which consume betel nut as raw
material have demanded import of betel nut and accordingly their complaint has been sent to the higher body. ”Industries have complained that they have not been able to import raw materials due to the government’s quantitative restrictions. The complaint has been sent to the ministry. We are not aware of any other process,” said Ram Chandra Tiwari, director general of the industry department.
High political lobbying
Last year, the KP Sharma Oli-led government had also decided to open import of 25,000 metric tonnes of betel nuts. According to sources, efforts are being made to open import of betel nut for three gutkha industries. In the name of Upkar Gutkha, Shri Ram Tobako and Deuti Gutkha, the way is being opened for import of betel nut.
”Even though the name of the industry is shown, the quota of betel nut import has been given to Pradip Mittal and Dinesh Rathi alone. The quota of 2500 tons of betel nut has been given to Pradip Mittal,” said a source. Sources claim that the Department of Commerce had earlier commented on the quota of betel nut imports and recommended quotas, but this time bypassing the Commerce Department, it has been forwarded to the Department of Industry.
Betel nuts are imported from third countries to Nepal and smuggled from Nepal to India at high prices. Traders have been lobbying hard to open the quota for import of betel nuts as the betel nuts imported cheaply from Indonesia and other countries are being smuggled to India.
Stating that the foreign exchange reserves have shrunk due to increasing imports, a few weeks ago, the NRB had arranged margin deposit of 50 to 100 percent for the import of about 300 types of goods. However, the NRB did not include areca nuts in the list, citing the need to import more areca nuts than the consumption capacity of indigenous industries. Nepal, which has always been notorious for importing and exporting betel nuts, has done the same thing again.
Why is betel nut import notorious?
The Indian government has accused Nepal of importing betel nuts, poppy seeds, corn and
chilies from Nepal. It is said that these products, which India has banned import from countries other than Nepal, are being brought to Nepal from third countries and smuggled to India by taking advantage of the open border from Nepal.
Ram Kumar Rai, chairman of the model betel nut farming development organization Jhapa, says that betel nuts are imported to Nepal every year for smuggling to India. ”Areca nuts produced in Nepal have not been sold for two years,” he said. ”Why did the government have to open the import of areca nuts to kill farmers?” He said that 1,200 tons of betel nut is produced in Nepal every year and it is not sold due to non-payment of price by the industrialists.
The game of commission
Last year, the industries had protested saying that they did not get the import quota of betel nut. The decision to open the import of betel nuts is being dragged into controversy saying that the traders are paying expensive commission by calculating in kilograms. According to sources, the commission deal on opening betel nut has been finalized this time as well.
In a meeting held at Hotel Yak & Yeti, a deal of Rs 40-60 crore was reached for the import of 25,000 tons of areca nuts, ‘the source claimed.
A high-ranking source said that the business group, which is importing betel nuts in the name of industry and smuggling them to India, has agreed to pay the same amount to open the import of betel nuts.
By Karuna Thapa
