Sale of cashew Feni should be allowed in national, global markets: Goa BJP MLA

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Deviya Rane on Wednesday said the Goa excise department should allow the sale of cashew Feni, the local spirituous brew, in the national and international markets.

Rane told the Legislative Assembly that cashew Feni has been given a Global Indication (GI) tag but it is not allowed to be sold outside the coastal state. Expanding the market for selling the cashew Feni will help farmers in Goa, she said during the discussion on the demands of grants tabled in the House by the state government.

Rane, who is chairman of the state-run Goa Forest Development Corporation, also said that farmers are discarding cashew apples and selling only cashew nuts. “There is no utility of cashew nuts as Feni, which is brewed out of them, doesn’t have a national and international market. 80 per cent of cashew apples gets wasted,” Rane said and underlined the ”tremendous demand” for the brew in the national and international markets.

Rane said the Excise Department should also grant permission to export cashew Feni. “The new airport will be commissioned at Mopa. The Feni should be sold at duty-free shops at the airport. The sale of cashew Feni should be allowed across all the airports in the country,” she added.