|  European Union's Agriculture Commissioner, Marianne Fischer Boel arrived in Delhi yesterday for a week long visit.
She is accompanied by a high powered entourage of 28 CEOs from Europe's top food and beverage companies.
Aim of her visit is to 'deepen the strong ties and close relations we already have between the EU and India' and is focused on the possibility of exporting and importing agricultural products between the two regions. The issue of state taxes on wines and spirits is also likely to come up during her talks with the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Kamal Nath.
"We have made our feeling strongly known on this issue and contacts are continuing. We had hoped that this would be dealt with in the Indian budget proposal earlier this week. That doesn't seem to be the case. We will continue contacts with the Indians and try to find a way out of this problem," said her spokesman Michael Mann in a report by the New Europe.
The budget announced on February 28 th by the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram failed to address the issue of import duties and the countervailing duties. They were expected to have been brought down but continue to remain at the high level of 264% albeit with an additional increase of about 3% due to an increase of 1% in Education Cess imposed on all the taxed products and services.
Besides, Mr Nath, she is scheduled to meet Mr. Subodh Kant Sahay, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries. She is also expected to meet Mr. Sharad Pawar, the Union Agriculture Minister whose family has a towering interest and influence in the grape growing industry of Maharashtra . Pawar is a great supporter of wine culture, but presumably to help the Indian wine industry.
Ms. Boel will also look for European investment possibilities in India and hopes to forge strong links between the delegation of the European CEOs and their Indian counterparts.
Meetings will take place on a vast range of agricultural commodities which will also include wine and spirits.
Subhash Arora
March 6, 2007 |
