The Agriculture Industry sought a new agriculture policy with focus on investment on Agriculture infrastructure, rationalisation of subsidy, increased investment in allied agri based food processing Industry and a substantial hike in allocation for agriculture research and innovation. The stakeholders asked to boost farm exports and create district hubs to support agriculture exports, sought launch of national Goat and Sheep Mission and increased the budget allocation for the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to ₹800 crore from ₹80 crore.
“All the stakeholders unanimously sought rationalisation of fertilizer subsidy and using the direct benefit transfer route to plug any leakage,” said a person aware of the meeting proceedings. They also asked the government to revise the retail price of urea, which has remained unchanged since 2018, and to incentivise the use of bio-fertilisers and foliar fertilisers.
The meeting was crucial as the rural and agriculture sector will be the key focus area in the first full budget of the Modi government which came back to power for the third term.
In the interim Budget for 2024, the Agriculture Ministry received an allocation of ₹1,17,528.79 crore, marking an increase of ₹1,997 crore or 1.70 % from the previous Budget. The meeting was attended by former Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and agricultural economist Ashok Gulati, representatives from the National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI), Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) Chairman MJ Khan and Ajay Vir Jakhar of Bharat Krishak Samaj.Later in the evening Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met representatives of MSMEs who asked her to consider Employment-Centric Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for MSMEs, further ease the lending norms, reclassification for non-performing assets for MSMEs, safeguarding small suppliers during insolvency of big corporate and a provision to safeguard them against disaster.They also requested the finance minister to allow use of Insurance Surety in lieu of Bank Guarantees through Budget announcement in 2022. MSMEs account for 45-50% of exports from the country. “We are sensitive to disruptions caused by disasters, both natural and man-made, which significantly impact their operations, finances, and ability to fulfil export commitments, most recently during Covid pandemic and Ukraine-Russia War,” a MSME member who attended the meeting said.
Meeting was attended by Sandeep K Jain, President, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises, Kamal Goliya Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEM) Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Ravi Shankar Chaudhary, Secy General, Consumer Electronics & Appliances Manufacturer, Mukesh Mohan Gupta, president, Chamber of Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprise, Om Prakash Gupta, All India General Secretary, Laghu Udyog Bharti and Subodh Jindal of All India Food Processors’ Association (AIFPA) among others.
Content Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com