State begins transfer of ₹300 crore subsidy to 3 lakh onion farmers

Maharashtra govt transfers ₹300 crore subsidy to 3 lakh onion farmers through direct transfer, ahead of elections; subsidy of ₹350 per quintal to be given.

Mumbai: In order to give relief to the onion farmers who suffered losses earlier, the state government on Wednesday began the transfer of ₹300 crore subsidy to 3 lakh onion producer farmers through direct transfer to beneficiaries’ mechanism. This subsidy is an attempt to woo the angry farmers ahead of elections.

Thane, India - August, 21, 2023: at thane union market, Farmers are angry after central government increased export duty by 40% and stopped onion exports and onion is likely to become expensive in the coming days. , in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on,Monday, August, 21, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

Chief minister Eknath Shinde, DCM Devendra Fadnavis and DCM Ajit Pawar launched the first phase of this subsidy distribution. The state government has decided to give a subsidy of ₹350 per quintal and up to 200 per quintal to the farmers for onions sold from 1st February 2023 to 31st March 2023. In the first phase, ₹300 crores will be distributed online to three lakh onion producer farmers. The subsidy will be deposited directly into the bank account of the eligible beneficiaries in the districts of Nagpur, Raigad, Sangli, Satara, Thane, Amravati, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Wardha, Latur, Yavatmal, Akola, Jalna, Washim. These districts have a total due amount of less than ₹10 crores.

In districts like Nashik, Osmanabad, Pune, Solapur, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Dhule, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, and Beed where the total demand of subsidy is above ₹10 crores ₹10,000 will be deposited in the bank accounts of the eligible beneficiaries as the first instalment of their total demand. Those farmers who have a subsidy demand of more than ₹10,000 will get the remaining amount in the second phase.