India to allow DDGS tariff concession from US under a capped quota
India will permit tariff concessions for US imports of DDGS within a limited quota, officials said, while government data show strong growth in agriculture GVA and rising cropping intensity.
The Indian government will allow tariff concessions for imports of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) from the United States, but the concession will be limited to a capped quota, Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh said in a written Lok Sabha reply.
Singh explained that DDGS will be treated under a quota-based tariff concession similar to tariff rate quotas applied to other commodities such as corn. Only limited volumes will be eligible for the tariff relief, he said.
The minister said the quota arrangement is designed to prevent adverse impacts on the market for domestically grown feed crops, maintaining that domestic feed-crop markets would not be harmed by the import concession.
The announcement follows a trade deal between India and the United States that was announced on February 2, with a joint statement issued on February 7.
Separately, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Bhagirath Chaudhary provided gross value added (GVA) figures for agriculture and allied sectors in another Lok Sabha reply. He cited GVA of ₹20.93 lakh crore for 2014-15 and ₹48.77 lakh crore for 2023-24.
Chaudhary gave the sectoral composition of agriculture and allied activities as livestock 30.87%, crops 54.39%, and fishing and aquaculture 7.55%. He reported livestock GVA rising from ₹5.10 lakh crore in 2014-15 to ₹15.05 lakh crore in 2023-24; crops from ₹12.92 lakh crore to ₹26.52 lakh crore; and fishing and aquaculture from ₹1.16 lakh crore to ₹3.68 lakh crore over the same period.
Chaudhary also noted that the agriculture sector’s GVA grew by 9.2% in 2024-25 according to the First Revised Estimate of GVA.
The government’s annual publication 'Land use statistics at a glance 2023-24' was cited to show agricultural land area remained relatively stable, while cropping intensity rose from 142.5% in 2013-14 to 156.8% in 2023-24, indicating more intensive use of existing agricultural land.