<p></p><p>The government is planning to set up a Cashew Board to promote production and export of the commodity. "A proposal to form a Cashew Board is planned," Minister of State for Commerce Jyotiraditya M Scindia said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Presently, a draft note is under preparation for seeking approval of the Expenditure Finance Committee of the Finance Ministry and the Project Appraisal and Management Committee of the Planning Commission, he said.</p> <p>The Board will be formed by merging activities of Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPC) under the Commerce Ministry and the Directorate of Cocoa and Cashewnut Development (DCCD) of Agriculture Ministry, he added. Scindia said presently, there is no separate commodity board to look after the cashew industry. The DCCD has been looking after production issues and the CEPC has been involved in export promotion activities of cashew. </p><p>There is a separate board to promote coffee, tea and tobacco industries. The minister said during the 11th Five Year Plan period, the CEPC was provided an assistance of ` 9.02 crore for upgrading processing facilities. That apart, the government has put in place various schemes to boost export of agri-products including cashew. </p><p>In 2010-11, the country exported 1,02,923 tons of cashew valuing ` 2,630 crore, he added. Replying to a separate query, Scindia said that import of essential items has increased in the last three years. </p><p>Placing data before Parliament, he said import takes place either because the country is short of it as in the case of pulses and edible oils or because domestic prices are higher. During the April-January period of the 2011-12 fiscal, pulses import stood at ` 7,126 crore, edible oils at ` 37,718 crore and petroleum products at ` 5,88,177 crore, he said.<br></p><p></p>