Paramilitary canteens record around Rs 2,800 crore in sales annually.
New Delhi: Over 1,000 imported products will not be available at paramilitary canteens across the country from today as only “Made in India” products will be sold in these canteens. The delisting of the imported products comes after the government last month announced that paramilitary canteens will only sell indigenous or Indian products from June 1 in a bid to give fillip to domestic industries.
Among the products and brands that will now not be available at the paramilitary canteens are Nutella, Kinder Joy, Tic Tac, Horlicks Oats, Eureka Forbes, Tommy Hilfiger shirts and Adidas body sprays. Certain brands of microwave ovens and several other home appliances too won’t be available from today.
Seven firms importing products including Skechers, Ferrero, Red Bull, Victorinox, Safilo (Polaroid, Carrera) have also been de-listed.
The Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandars, the parent body that runs these canteens, has divided all products into three categories.
Category 1 comprises products purely made in India. Category 2 includes products with imported raw materials but are manufactured or assembled in India. The third category consists of “purely imported products”.
The parent body has also stopped several products of companies, which have not provided the information sought by them.
The move to sell only “Made in India” products will be sold in paramilitary canteens comes after Prime Minister last month stressed on the mantras of “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat” or self-reliance and “vocal for local” while announcing a mega economic package to tackle the economic impact of coronavirus.
60 to 70 per cent of people who shopped at paramilitary canteens mostly bought only essential and basic items. “The canteens were mostly catering to lower and upper level of the constabulary. But this decision would have an impact on the rest 30 to 40 per cent,” a senior officer said.
The officer said that most of the times, the high-end brands were placed on order on a demand basis. “But now, that these brands are no more available. We have to wait and see which other brands the government pushes through,” he added.
Paramilitary canteens record around Rs 2,800 crore in sales annually. The CAPF includes the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and Assam Rifles.
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