India excludes agri items, gold, silver, footwear from trade pact with Oman
Muscat (PTI): India has protected the interest of domestic farmers and MSMEs by not extending any duty concessions on products across several sectors, including agricultural items such as dairy, as well as chocolates, gold, silver, jewellery, footwear, and sports goods, under the trade pact with Oman.
The comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) was signed on Thursday in Muscat.
The commerce ministry said to safeguard its interest, sensitive products have been kept in the exclusion category by India without offering any concessions.
It includes "agricultural products, including dairy, tea, coffee, rubber, and tobacco products; gold and silver bullion, jewellery; other labour-intensive products such as footwear, sports goods; and scrap of many base metals," the ministry said.
Further, for products of export interest to Oman and which are sensitive to India, the offer is mostly a tariff-rate quota (TRQ)-based tariff liberalisation.
Under the TRQ mechanism, India has extended duty concessions up to a specified quota, beyond which the normal import duty will apply. Goods under this category include dates, marbles, and petrochemical products.
An official said Oman has allowed Indian firms to import marble blocks, which is a banned export item in the Gulf nation.
As per the CEPA, the annual quota for duty-free dates will be 2,000 tonnes.
As per the pact, dairy sector goods, which are out of the purview of the agreement are milk products, cheese, butter, dairy spreads, ghee, and yoghurt.
Cereals like wheat, rice, maize and millets too are out of the pact.
Number of vegetables where no duty concessions will be given by India include tomatoes, onion, garlic, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, beans, radish, pumpkin, lady finger, and bitter gourd.
Similarly, no duty benefit will be given by Indians on edible oils like soybean oil, mustard oil, groundnut oil, and sunflower oil, besides oil seeds like soyabean, mustard and sesame and natural honey.
Further, under the CEPA, India will eliminate import duty in a phased manner for Oman for processed products such as sweet biscuits, rusks, toasted bread, pastry and cakes, papad, dog, or cat food.
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Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
