<p>Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cashew Processors' Association has demanded rollback of 5% import duty imposed on raw cashew nuts by the Centre. Odisha has around 300 micro and small cashew processing units with a processing capacity of 1.5 lakh metric tonnes. While the state produces 85,000 metric tonnes of raw cashew, the rest is imported from Africa for processing and exported.After the increase in import duty with additional cess and special additional duty on imported products, around 9.5% tax has to be paid, they said. This is affecting their business. The association submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and the chief minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, for rollback of tax. <br></p> <p>Government may look into the matter.mahendra kumar Nayak</p> <p>With an annual production of around one lakh metric tonne per annum, Odisha is the third largest producer of cashew nuts in India. Mostly located in rural areas, cashew units in the state provide employment to over 30,000 unskilled workers. The association said the business will not be viable after paying such a high import duty in addition to taxes. "It will be difficult for us to compete in the international market, especially with cashew processors of Vietnam, who get better support from their government," said advisor of Odisha Cashew Processors' Association, Jagmohan Panda.Cashew farmers in Odisha command the highest price compared to other states because of heavy local industry demand. "An agricultural material import duty on raw cashewnuts will not benefit the farmers. Rather, it will affect the processing units, which depend on the import of raw materials," said secretary of the association Sudhakar Bhol. "Young entrepreneurs and startups have invested in the cashew processing industry with an optimistic outlook. The imposition of additional duty will increase the cost of raw material which cannot be absorbed in the price of the finished product," Bhol added.<br></p>