Budget 2021 on Monday and has enhanced the agricultural credit target to 16.5 lakh crores in FY22

The Union Budget 2021-2022 has kept farmers’ well-being at the center and aims to enhance farmers’ income, said Partner and Head, Consumer Markets and Internet Business, KPMG in India Harsha Razdan, noting the boost in the agricultural budget announced on Monday.

In a statement sent to India News Network via email, sharing his views on the agricultural budget, Razdan said, “Keeping farmers well-being at the center, the budget aims to enhance farmers’ income, thereby also rekindling rural consumption and provide the much-needed stimulus to growth!”

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Budget 2021 on Monday and has enhanced the agricultural credit target to 16.5 lakh crores in FY22 with an increasing focus on ensuring increased credit flows to animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries.

In her budget speech, FM Sitharaman noted that there has been a significant increase in the procurement of rice and wheat, and money paid to farmers has jumped remarkably since 2013-14 when the Narendra Modi government took over.

She said that the amount paid to wheat farmers has gone up by more than 121% while the amount disbursed to rice farmers has gone up by a massive 170.23% during this time.

The statement is significant at a time when a large number of farmers are protesting for a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) fearing that the government will end the MSP system after the implementation of the three farm laws aimed at freeing up the agriculture markets.

Continuing on the agricultural budget, Razdan said, “Overall, the budget has reinforced the government’s commitment to the welfare of farmers. With increasing MSP and steady rise in procurement, the overall payment made to farmers in FY 2020-21 against wheat, paddy, pulses, and cotton amounts to INR ~280,000+ crores and the number of farmers benefitted is over 2 crores. The budget plans to provide for additional credit to farmers (~16.5 lakh crores in FY22) and for increasing credit flows to animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries.”

The government has allocated Rs 40,000 crores to the rural infrastructure development fund this year, an increase from Rs 30,000 crores

The Finance Minister has proposed to double the Micro Irrigation Fund, with a corpus of `5,000 crores has been created under NABARD, by augmenting it by another `5,000 crores.

To boost value addition in agriculture and allied products and their exports, the scope of ‘Operation Green Scheme’ that is presently applicable to tomatoes, onions, and potatoes, will be enlarged to include 22 perishable products, said the Finance Minister in her budget speech.

“Further, allocation of INR 40,000 crores towards the Rural infrastructure Fund and INR 10,000 crores towards the Micro Irrigation Fund re-enforce the government’s agenda to drive agricultural growth,” Razdan said.

“With the extension of green schemes, 1000+ mandis being integrated in e-NAM, investments in modern fishing and seaweed farming, raising of custom duties on cotton and silk, and investments in storage facilities, it is clear that agriculture and allied activities will continue to gain traction in FY22,” Razdan added.