Kharif MSP at 150% of input cost to be announced next week

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that the Union Cabinet would approve a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of 150 per cent of input cost for Kharif crops in the 2018-2019 season next week.

He also stated that within the following two weeks, the Fair and Remunerative Price for sugarcane for 2018-2019 will be announced, which will be considerably higher than the same for 2017-2018. It will also provide an incentive for those farmers whose recovery from sugarcane will be higher than 9.5 per cent.

The Prime Minister also interacted with over 140 sugarcane farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Maharashtra and Karnataka and discussed the MSP for the crop, among other issues.

He also notified them that in the past few days, more than Rs 4000 crore had been sanctioned to clear arrears as a result of new policy measures enforced. He further assured the farmers that State Governments had been requested to take effective measures for the liquidation of cane arrears.

The use sprinkler and drip irrigation, latest farming techniques, and solar pumps were suggested by Prime Minister Modi, who also apprised them of his recent interactions with corporates, where he called for greater private sector investment for value addition, warehousing, storage facilities, better quality seeds, and market linkages for improving their income.

The Prime Minister also informed them that the import duty on sugar has also been bumped from 50 per cent to 100 per cent, and a provision of Rs 5.50 per quintal, amounting to Rs 1540 crore, as a performance-based grant to sugar mills for payments to farmers was approved.

He also elaborated on the Government's approach for 10 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol, as a long-term solution for providing stability in the sugar industry.