New Delhi: The Central government has approved the minimum support price (MSP) of 14 Kharif crops, including Paddy, Ragi, Bajra, Jowar, Maize and Cotton.
“Some very important decisions have been taken in today’s Cabinet meeting. 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 Rs 2,300 (per quintal), which is a Rs 117 increment over the previous MSP,” Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed on Wednesday.
The MSP for cotton has been set at Rs 7,121 per quintal for medium staple and Rs 7,521 per quintal for long staple. For Bajra, the new MSP is Rs 2,625 per quintal, while Groundnut oil’s MSP has been fixed at Rs 6,783 per quintal.
Among pulses, MSP for moong has been set at Rs 8,682, tur at Rs 7,550 — Rs 550 higher than the previous figure — and Rs 7,400 for urad.
“The third term of PM Modi is very important as it focuses on continuity with change through many decisions for farmers’ welfare,” Vaishnaw said.
After today’s decision, farmers will get around Rs 2 lakh crore as MSP.
“This is Rs 35,000 crore more than the previous season,” Vaishnaw added.
Among other Cabinet decisions are expansion of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Varanasi and 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 stated.
