<p></p><p>Owners of cashew nut processing units across the State demanded withdrawal of 9.36 per cent import duty on cashew in the general Budget as it would dampen the very existence of the industry, said Cashew Factory Owners’ Development Association of Tamil Nadu here on Monday. <br></p> <p>Addressing a demonstration in front of the Collectorate, M.P. Jayachandran, general secretary of the Association, said that though the government was giving back five per cent of import duty while exporting the processed nuts, the factory owners could not bear the brunt as the industry was already in doldrums due to shortage of raw materials and not getting remunerative prices for the processed nuts.</p><p>The industry, which provided employment to over two lakh women, was resorting either to shutdown or restricting processing and producing to one or two days a week. This had had a cascading effect on the livelihood of workers’ families. The Budget announcement and subsequent notification, dated March 1, enhancing the import duty to 9.36 per cent were unacceptable, Mr. Jayachandran said. <br></p> <p>He feared that if the notification was brought into force, the cost of raw cashew nut would go up by at least `.10 per kg. <br></p><p>He said that over 2,000 cashew nut processing industries were in operation across the State, and 535 of them were in Kanyakumari district. The industry downed shutters across the State for three days from March 7.<br></p><p></p>