Govt may spend Rs 120-150 bn to support states on procurement of farm goods

Budget hasn't specifically allocated any amount for the same but resources can be arranged through supplementary demand for grants in 2018-19, the official said

The government is looking to spend around Rs 120-150 billion to support states on their various models of procurement of agriculture commodities under Minimum Support Price (MSP) that includes Madhya Pradesh’s Bhawaantar Bhugtan Yojana (BBY), its own Market Assurance Scheme (MAS), the Telangana model of income support or any other in the next six to eight months, a senior agriculture ministry official said.

“Still, a lot of these issues are under the realm of discussion but we would ideally like to participate in some form or the other and might give freedom to states to choose their own strategy to