Government Prioritizes Agriculture with New Policies Aimed at Boosting Farmers’ Income and Reducing Import Dependency.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came back for a third term in office, the first file he signed was for the release of the 17th instalment of the PM Kisan Nidhi scheme. Additionally, in its maiden cabinet session, the NDA government greenlit new Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 14 kharif crops in 2024-25 marketing season, recommending the highest absolute increase over the previous year for oilseeds and pulses in a signal to farmers to opt for these crops with an eye on trimming the country’s import bill.
These moves around the farming sector and their timing underscore the pivotal role this sector plays in the Modi government’s agenda of making India the third-largest economic power in the world.
Experts say that the upcoming budget that is set to be tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the second half of July will have some populist measures for farmers as last month’s Lok Sabha election results didn’t happen the way BJP wanted them to, mainly because of the party’s performance in rural and semi-urban India and the Hindi heartland.
The agriculture sector is likely to grow at 3.7 per cent in the current fiscal, compared to 1.4 per cent last year, according to CII.
Source: Economic Times