Import of dry fruits, fresh fruits via Attari-Wagah border doubles
Amritsar, September 7, 2023: As per media reports, Ahead of the winter season, the he import of dry fruits and fresh fruits through the integrated check-post (ICP) at the Attari-Wagah border has doubled during the past fortnight. The import of apple, cherry, grapes and dry fruits has picked up pace.
According to the news published in The Tribune, Satish Dhyani, manager at the ICP, said the average daily arrival from Afghanistan increased from 440 tonne to 1,100 tonne during the past fortnight.
Before August 15, the average daily arrival used to be approximately 20 trucks, which now reached to about 50 trucks.
Sanjiv Puri, a customs broker, said ahead of the winter, there was a good demand for fresh and dry fruits in pockets of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and Punjab. “About 80 per cent of the imported dry and fresh fruits are supplied to Delhi and importers based at Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Punjab import the rest,” he said.
Anil Mehra, a Punjab-based importer, said there was a spike in prices of some items and its exact value would be ascertained once the commodities would be out in the market. For example, ‘anjeer’ (fig) would see a rise of about Rs 200 per kg in its price as compared to last year and be available between Rs 750 to Rs 850 in the market, he said. Similarly, the prices of black ‘munaka’ and almonds may also rise.
The data with the ICP revealed that there was a decline of Rs 758 crore in imports from Afghanistan during the financial year 2022-2023 as compared to 2021-22.
The import in the fiscal ending on March 31 was Rs 2,219 crore and it was Rs 2,977 crore during 2021-22. On the other hand, the export to the landlocked country increased from Rs 5 crore during 2021-22 to Rs 74.29 crore in 2022-23.
