Rajasthan govt rolls out sops for agri-business

Aimed to increase the income of farmers, the Rajasthan government has come up with a policy for promotion of agri-business that waives off stamp and electricity duties on early bird projects.

"Projects with investment of Rs 25 crore and above, which commence commercial production by March 31, 2012 in the state, would be given incentives like waiving off of stamp and electricity duties and also mandi fees," Administrator of Rajasthan State Agricultural Marketing Board Umesh Kumar today said.

Titled -- Policy for Promotion of Agro-processing and Agri-business 2010 -- it was unveiled recently by the state government.

Under the policy that agro-processing and agri-business enterprises would be eligible for 50 per cent concession on stamp duty. Also, food parks would get the same benefit on first transfer of land or space after development.

Cold chains, including cold storages, would be treated at par with agro- industries for tariff and electricity duty. "Besides fiscal incentives, the policy also addresses policy bottlenecks and encourages competitiveness and infrastructure development," Kumar said, while interacting with industry representatives at a FICCI forum.

The policy would be up for review after 5 years, he said.

The state government has also made processed food, fruits and vegetable retailers, eligible for incentives under the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme, which aims to promote investment in service sectors besides manufacturing, provided the share of their produce in the total turnover is at least 80 per cent.

The policy also provides unrestricted purchase of the state's agricultural and horticultural products by agro- processing industries.

Kumar said it also offers capital subsidy in the form of interest subsidy and wage employment subsidy.

Apart from this, he added that projects, which bring in new technologies to the state, would be eligible for allotment of government land on lease at 10 per cent of reserve rate per annum.

"Government land would be allotted on 30 years lease period for captive production and consumption, for projects with investment of Rs 50 crore and above," the official said.

Kumar also said that panchayats would get 25 per cent of lease amount for their lands, adding that the policy also focusses on addressing delays in land related issues like land conversion and allotment.