Suresh Deswal Gen. Secretary Kisan Chamber of Commerce
India’s Union Budget 2024 introduces measures targeting education, employment, skills and the middle class. Nine priority areas have been identified and significant changes have been introduced in the capital gains tax regime. The third consecutive Narendra Modi government ‘Modi 3.0′ began its term following the conclusion of the general elections in June. Presenting the first Union Budget of the ‘Modi 3.0’ NDA government on July 23, 2024, Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized on the following themes of the Union Budget 2024: education, employment, skills and Industry 4.0, and middle class.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Union Budget 2024-25 and said that the budget for Viksit Bharat ensures inclusive growth, benefiting every segment of society and paving the way for a developed India. “It takes the country’s poor, village and farmer on the path of prosperity. In the last 10 years, 25 crore people have come out of poverty. This is a budget of continuity of empowerment of the new middle class,”
Here is the sector-wise allocation from Budget 2024:
Defense: Rs 6,21,940 cr Rural: Rs 2,65,808 cr Agriculture: Rs 1,51,851 cr
Home affairs: Rs 1,50,983 cr Health: Rs 89,287 cr Education: Rs 1,25,638 cr
Social welfare: Rs 56,501 cr Energy: Rs 68,769 cr IT & Telecom: Rs 1,16,342 cr
Commerce & Industry: Rs 47,559 cr
Agriculture and allied sector
Our government will undertake a comprehensive review of the agriculture research setup to bring the focus on raising productivity and developing climate resilient varieties,” said F M Sitharaman in her speech.
Kisan Chamber of Commerce discusses the major announcements of agriculture in this article. The finance minister has announced a budget allocation of INR 1.52 trillion (US$18.16 billion) for agriculture and allied sectors.
New 109 high-yield and climate resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will be released for cultivation by farmers. In the next 2 years, 10 million farmers will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding.10,000 need-based bio-input resource centers are proposed to be set-up. The government will draw a strategy for increased production, storage and marketing of pulses and oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower. Center to introduce National Support Policy to accelerate rural development, promote digital infrastructure for farming
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday allocated ₹1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors in the Budget for financial year 2024-25. Stating that agriculture is a major agenda of the government, she said productivity and resilience will be taken into consideration while formulating policies. Finance Minister said that one crore farmers will be included in natural farming in the next two years and the government will support them in matters of certification and branding. The project will be implemented through scientific institutions and interested Gram Panchayats, for which 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centers will be set up. There will also be a comprehensive review of research to develop climate-friendly seeds. As part of the 100-day programme, 109 new seed varieties in 32 field and horticultural crops will be released soon.
‘Cost cutting efforts’
The Minister said the government was taking measures to increase the supply of fruits and vegetables in the market and large-scale vegetable clusters would be developed close to major consumption centers. “We will promote farmer-producer organizations (FPOs), cooperatives and start-ups for vegetable supply chains including collection, storage and marketing. FM also reiterated the mission of pulses and oilseeds production, including the strategy to make the country self-reliant in mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean and sunflower production.
Commenting on the budget, Union Agriculture Minister Sh. Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that in this budget, not only has there been talk of increasing production, but efforts are also being made to reduce the cost. When the farmer gets Kisan Credit Card or cheap loan then the cost of production will reduce. He also said that emphasis has been laid on increasing crop production because without this the income will not increase.
Mr. Chauhan also said that by creating digital infrastructure in agriculture, farmers will get relief from many problems, especially the production of pulses and oilseeds will increase and they will also get fair prices. For example, if farmers produce urad, masoor and tur, they will be purchased at MSP.
No change in fertilizer subsidy.
The minister further said that under the proposed mission of natural farming, farmers will be trained not to use chemical fertilizers so that fruits, vegetables, grains are beneficial for health. “We will be saved from many diseases and the health of Mother Earth will also improve. The mission on natural farming will come soon,” he said. The budget allocation for the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for FY2015 has been kept at Rs 1.22 lakh crore and for the Department of Agricultural Research and Education at Rs 9,941 crore. Meanwhile, fertilizer subsidy has been kept at Rs 1.64 lakh crore, proposed in the interim Budget, although this is down from Rs 1.88 lakh crore in 2023-24 (Revised Estimates). Food subsidy has also been set at Rs 2.05 lakh crore, the same as in the interim budget, lower than the revised estimate of Rs 2.12 lakh cr. during 2023-24.
Comprehensive review
“Our government will conduct a comprehensive review of the agricultural research set-up to focus on increasing productivity and developing climate-resilient varieties. The funding will be provided in challenge mode including the private sector. Domain experts from both the government and outside will monitor the conduct of such research,” Nirmala said.
She said the new announcements will include Jan Samarth based Kisan Credit Cards in five states, finance through NABARD for shrimp farming and export and financial assistance for setting up a network of nucleus breeding centers for shrimp brood stock.
Telephonic Reaction of various Kisan Neta about the budget Kisan leaders said that the budget has left farmers “empty handed”. There is no mention of MSP Guarantee Act, nor of loan waiver for farmers. In the total budget of Rs 48 lakh crore, only Rs 1.52 lakh crore came to the share of farmers, the backbone of the country’s economy. 65 percent of the country’s population was limited to only 3 percent of the budget. This is the biggest discrimination against rural India. Kisan leaders alleged that the government wants to bring big corporate into farming in the name of climate-friendly varieties and increasing productivity. Everyone hoped that the anger shown by the farmers in the elections would be accepted. But the budget has disappointed the farmers. Also, there is a fear that genuine farmers will be left out of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) scheme for agriculture. There is no mention in the budget as to how many FPOs have been formed so far and how much benefits farmers have received from FPOs. Yes, the Modi government has definitely paid the price for its “support” of power.