FM holds pre-budget consultation with representatives of agriculture & allied sectors

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held her fourth pre-budget consultations with agro-processing sectors ahead of the forthcoming general budget 2020-21 on Tuesday, December 17 in New Delhi.

The Minister and the stakeholders discussed on agricultural marketing reforms, organic and natural farming, agricultural commodity markets and future trading, storage infrastructure for agricultural produce, animal husbandry, agro-processing industry, ideas for reducing food subsidy etc. Anurag Thakur, the Minister of State for Finance also attended the meeting too.

The stakeholders of the agro-processing and rural development sectors submitted significant suggestions to attract heftier investments in the agricultural sector and make markets more accessible to farmers. 

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The representatives suggested that the processing industry be given more benefits, Indian agricultural brands be built abroad, agriculture be given equivalent importance, depreciation benefit to the agri-processing industry be accelerated, PMFBY be revamped and the development of farm eco-system services and market intelligence systems be encouraged.

The representatives also asked for the encouragement of multi-dimensional research in agriculture for the development of new technologies and further suggested promoting start-ups in institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Agriculture Universities for young agricultural students.

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman began the pre-budget consultations with stakeholder groups on December 16. These discussions are meant to provide solutions to the government for reviving the economy, even though the finance ministry has taken multiple steps to boost and attract more foreign investment.

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According to a statement relaesed by the Finance Ministry, “Over the next few days, FM will meet stakeholder groups from start-ups, fintech and digital, financial sector, capital markets, industry, services and trade, agriculture and agro-processing, social sector, water and sanitation, trade union and labour organisations, industrialists, infrastructure, energy and economists.”

The government is focusing especially on startups, intending to hold discussions about enabling ease of doing business for companies, besides regulatory and financial blocks hurdling their growth. 

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(With Inputs from ANI)