Removal of tariff on U.S. apples won't affect sales of domestic varieties: Indian official

NEW DELHI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government said on Tuesday that the removal of a 20-percent tariff on apples imported from the United States would not adversely affect the sales of domestically grown apples.

The removal of tariff, which came into effect a week ago, had led to an uproar in the Indian society amid fears about the interests of local orchard owners.

Allaying concerns of local growers, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Peeyush Kumar was quoted as saying that India was "not giving anything extra" by removing the 20-percent tariff, and that it was not that "we have opened a floodgate" for American apples.

Local apple growers believed the entry of U.S. apples, after the tax waiver, into the Indian market at a time when the apple harvest season was set to start "will lead to pricing fluctuations which will hit the local industry badly".