India does not cultivate or produce any pistachios. So pistachios are actually imported, either from Persia, Iran, or now from California
The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to bear a portion of the PF and ESI payments of the private cashew companies in an effort to revive the crisis-hit industry in the southern state. State Industries Minister P Rajeev while launching eight new value-added cashew products by the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) for the Onam market here, said the government has also decided to bear 50 per cent of the loan interest burden of these factories and has reached a settlement with the banks to write off all interest and compound interest on Non-Performing Assets of cashew factories. "Now the government has intervened with the banks, and the banks are now ready to write off the penal interest and the accumulated interest, and they are ready to settle these NPAs by settling 50 per cent of the amount of the loan up to Rs 2 crore and 60 per cent of the principal amount up to Rs 10 crore," Rajeev told PTI. He said the Kerala cashews produced by the KSCDC and Kerala State
The United States is a distant second, accounting for 10-15 per cent of global consumption
The increase in costs is due to a hike in import duty on raw cashew kernels from 45 per cent to 70 per cent, in the Union Budget for 2019-20
Kerala Cashew Industry Joint Council said the move is a shot in the arm for the struggling cashew industry in the state