The Centre on Wednesday hiked the minimum support price for pulses by up to Rs 275 a quintal for the year and also approved an increase of Rs 50 in MSP for paddy.
The MSP for paddy will now be Rs 1,410 per quintal. Hikes in MSP are known to help farmers, which in turn can incentivise them and boost their overall agricultural output.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the decision earlier on Wednesday.
MSP is the rate at which the government undertakes to buy farmers’ produce to avert distress sales, though in practice it ends up becoming the same as the procurement price, which should ideally be higher.
“CCEA has given the approval for the MSP for kharif crops of 2015-16 season. The decision is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP),” an official statement said.
“The CACP being the expert body on crop pricing, its recommendations are generally accepted as such. However, in view of a large surplus of cereals in contrast to huge deficit of pulses, the cabinet made an exception and decided to give a bonus of `200 per quintal for pulses over and above the recommendations of the CACP,” it said.
This apart, the cabinet approved the stepping up of India’s solar power capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) by five times, reaching 1,00,000 MW by 2022.
{{/usCountry}}This apart, the cabinet approved the stepping up of India’s solar power capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) by five times, reaching 1,00,000 MW by 2022.
{{/usCountry}}“With this ambitious target, India will become one of the largest green energy producers in the world, surpassing several developed countries,” a release said.