The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif crops by 5 to 12.7 percent for the 2024-25 marketing year.
The highest increases were for pulses and oilseeds, while cereals saw the lowest increases, following the trend of previous years.
The MSP for paddy, the main grain grown in the Kharif season, was increased by Rs 117 per quintal. The new MSP for paddy is Rs 2,300 per quintal for the 2024-2025 kharif marketing season.
This increase is lower than the Rs 143 per quintal in the 2023-24 crop season (July to June). In percentage terms, the increase was 5.4 percent, a decrease compared to the increase of 7.01 percent last year.
Besides paddy, MSP increases for 2024-25 were lower than the previous year for jowar, bajra, moong and cotton.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said the MSP increases will result in transfer of an estimated Rs 2 trillion to farmers’ bank accounts based on procurement levels, which is about Rs 35,000 crore more than the previous season.
However, Professor Sudhir Panwar, a former member of the UP Planning Commission, criticized the move and said it was just a media event, pointing out the lack of significant government procurement of crops with higher MSP than market prices, such as sunflower and tur.
First print: June 19, 2024 | 10:22 pm IST