New Delhi: The government has announced an increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for various crops, including paddy and 13 other crops. The MSP for paddy grown as a monsoon crop in the current season has been raised by 5.35% to ₹2,300 per quintal.
The decision to raise the support price is believed to be influenced by the recent assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi. This increase amounts to ₹117 per quintal despite ample stocks of rice in government warehouses.
The NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has adopted a policy of setting the MSP at 1.5% of the total cost of production as its first decision since coming into power for the third time at the Centre.
Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnav stated that this decision results in an overall increase of ₹35,000 compared to last year’s MSP, amounting to a total expenditure of ₹2 lakh crore.
Key highlights include:
- Paddy: A hike of ₹117 per quintal for normal grade (₹2,300 per quintal), A grade – ₹2,320
- Hybrid Maize: Increase by ₹191 (₹3,371 per quintal)
- Maldani: Increase by ₹196 (₹3,421 per quintal)
- Cotton: The MSP for common variety cotton increased to ₹7,121 per quintal and another variety increased to ₹7,521.
- Millet – MSP set at ₹4,290
- Sajje – MSP set at ₹2,625
- Maize – MSP set at ₹2,225
Pulses:
- Kali Name: Fixed at ₹8,682
- Togari: Fixed at ₹7,550
- Udi: Fixed at ₹7,400
These adjustments reflect increases ranging from hundreds to more than five hundred rupees compared to last year’s rates across different crop categories.