NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday announced minimum support price (MSP) for 14 Kharif season crops including paddy, ragi, bajra, jowar, maize and cotton which will have a financial implication of Rs two lakh crore for the government and entail gain of Rs 35,000 crore to farmers over the previous season. Addressing the media after a meeting of the union cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the third term of PM Modi is very important as it focuses on continuity with change through many decisions for farmers’s welfare.” He said the two terms of the Modi government had laid a strong base of economic growth and significant decisions would be taken in the third term for the benefit of people. “The Cabinet has approved Minimum Support Price (MSP) on 14 Kharif season crops including paddy, ragi, bajra, jowar, maize and cotton. With today’s decision, the farmers will get around Rs lakh crores as MSP. This is Rs 35,000 crores more than the previous season,” he said. The minister said the government is committed to providing a price to farmers at 50 per cent more than the input cost and the decisions were aligned to that objective. The highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for oilseeds and pulses. After being sworn in as PM for the third time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed his first file authorising the release of the 17th instalment of PM Kisan Nidhi reflecting the commitment of the government towards farmer welfare. At an event in Varanasi on Tuesday, PM Modi released the 17th instalment amounting to more than Rs 20,000 crore to around 9.26 crore beneficiary farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) through Direct Benefit Transfer.
