Centre clears new minimum support price for 14 Kharif crops

The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday approved the minimum support price (MSP) on 14 Kharif crops, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced. 

"Some very important decisions have been taken in today's Cabinet. One very important decision has been taken for the welfare of farmers. Kharif season is starting, and for that, the Cabinet has approved MSP on 14 crops. The new MSP for paddy is ₹2,300, which is a ₹117 increment over the previous MSP,” Vaishnaw said at a briefing.

ALSO READ: Centre committed to continue MSP regime: Piyush Goyal

“The third term of PM Modi is very important as it focuses on continuity with change through many decisions for farmers's welfare,” the minister added.

Vaishnaw said that after today's decision, the farmers will get around ₹2 lakh crore as MSP.

ALSO READ: Will raise issue of law on MSP in Parl, Mamata assures Punjab farmers

“This is ₹35,000 crores more than the previous season,” he said at the briefing. 

The minister said the Centre had a clear policy decision taken in the 2018 Union Budget that MSP should be at least 1.5 times the cost of production, and this principle was followed in the latest MSP hike. The cost was scientifically calculated by CACP, he added.

The Food Corporation of India currently holds a record stockpile of around 53.4 million tonnes of rice, which is four times the required buffer for July 1 and sufficient to meet demand under welfare schemes for one year without any fresh procurement.

The other cabinet decision includes approval of India's first offshore wind energy project. “These will be 1GW offshore wind projects, 500 MW each (off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu). This is a big opportunity for India,” Vaishnaw added.

Despite lower rainfall of about 20 per cent across the country since the start of the monsoon season on June 1, weather conditions are now favourable for further advancement of the rains, according to the meteorological department.