Indian Farmers Demand Hike in Raw Silk Import Duty

At a farmers' convention here ahead of the Central budget, many leaders noted with concern the falling prices of domestic raw silk due to the large-scale import of cheap Chinese silk.

Addressing the gathering, Union Minister of State for Railway K H Muniyappa promised to take up their cause with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and redress their grievance at the earliest.

Other leaders, including CPI (M)'s Basudev Acharya, Karnataka Labour Minister B N Bache Gowda, former MP C Narayanswamy and Prantha Raitha Sangha president Maruti Rao Manpade, urged the Finance Minister to increase the import duty.