An expert committee constituted by the Centre has recommended that mango-based beverages be mandated to contain 22-25 per cent genuine natural mango pulp, with the concessional 5 per cent GST slab reserved only for products meeting this threshold — a move aimed at reviving demand for Totapuri mango pulp and shoring up farm-gate prices.
The panel, headed by T Damodaran, Director of ICAR-Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow, submitted its findings at a meeting chaired by Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The minister has directed officials to initiate inter-ministerial consultations on the recommendations.
The committee was tasked with studying the sharp fall in Totapuri mango prices this season in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka – the crop’s key growing belt.
Damodaran attributed the decline to a mismatch between processing capacity and procurement timelines, thin pulp content in beverages sold domestically, and volatility in global prices.
Processing units in several centres are not procuring fruit in time at the start of the season, even as arrivals from farmers peak simultaneously – a bunching effect that depresses prices and hits grower incomes, he said in an official statement.
The panel’s central recommendation ties the beverage industry’s tax treatment to the actual fruit content.
Products with pulp content below the prescribed floor would face a higher GST rate, while compliant products retain the 5 per cent concessional slab.
The ministry’s statement said the mechanism is expected to simultaneously lift Totapuri pulp consumption and improve the nutritional quality of beverages available to consumers.
To operationalise this, an inter-ministerial meeting will be convened involving FSSAI, the GST Council, and the Ministries of Finance, Food Processing Industries, Agriculture and Health, to finalise standards and the tax structure.
To bring more predictability to the value chain, the committee has recommended setting up a Central Coordination and Price Stabilisation Committee – an apex mechanism covering Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
Ahead of each season, this body would assess crop estimates, processing and export demand, input costs and market conditions to arrive at indicative farm-gate procurement prices and reference pulp prices, giving both growers and industry an advance price signal.
The report flagged that a significant share of Totapuri acreage in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor, Tirupati, Annamayya, and Kadapa districts is under ageing orchards with declining yield and quality.
It has recommended top-working – grafting existing trees with scions of higher-value varieties such as Neelam, Alphonso, Himayat and Banganapalli – to bring these orchards back into more remunerative production within two to three years, alongside cluster-level GAP adoption, farmer training and demonstration plots.
On the quality front, the committee has proposed fruit-covering over an initial 23,333 hectares across the four Andhra Pradesh districts to reduce insect damage and improve fruit appearance, positioning output for premium markets.
Other recommendations include a zonal procurement and pre-processing system, with the annual procurement plan to be jointly finalised by the horticulture department, processing units, and FPOs.
It also recommended an SOP for Andhra Pradesh mandating that all registered processing units commence procurement and pulp production from May 15 each year.
Promotion of farmer-led and FPO-based value-addition models, including mango butter and other seed-kernel by-products using ICAR-CISH and IIHR technology, as an additional revenue stream for growers.
APEDA representatives at the meeting outlined plans to widen domestic and export markets for Totapuri and other Indian mango varieties, with a particular focus on sea freight to lower logistics costs and open new destinations.
Chouhan said a coordinated export and marketing strategy for Totapuri-based processed products and fresh table mangoes would be drawn up jointly with APEDA, ICAR and the state governments.
The minister said the objective is to make the entire Totapuri value chain farmer-centric, with a roadmap aligning GST, food safety standards and state-level policies.
He expressed confidence that full implementation of the measures would sustainably lift incomes for Totapuri growers across the three states and strengthen the market positioning of Indian mangoes globally.
The committee’s recommendations follow field visits to Tirupati and Chittoor districts between July 8 and 10, during which it engaged with farmers, FPOs, market representatives, pulp processors, exporters and district administration officials across the value chain.
