On the budget table: 100% MSP for oilseeds, pulses; Centre can adjust PM-AASHA

According to sources, the upcoming Union Budget 2024-25 is expected to amend the flagship Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) scheme and ensure minimum support price (MSP) for select pulses and oilseeds through 100 per cent direct procurement or price gap payments.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has repeatedly stressed the central government’s commitment to 100 per cent procurement of arhar, urad and masoor at MSP from all states. Currently, the sources noted, the scheme’s guidelines unveiled a few years ago restrict the quantity of pulses and oilseeds that farmers can sell at MSP.