New Delhi, Dec 20 (FN Bureau) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday approved an increase in minimum support price (MSP) for milling copra by Rs 422 per quintal and Rs 100 per quintal for ball copra for 2025 marketing season. With this, the MSP for milling copra and ball copra now stands at Rs 11,582 per quintal and Rs 12,100 per quintal respectively for the marketing season 2025. “The financial implication of the decision is Rs 855 crore. In comparison to 2024, the MSP of milling copra is higher by Rs 422 per quintal and for ball copra the increase is Rs 100 per quintal over the last year,” Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said while briefing the media on Cabinet decision.
Copra is mostly produced in southern states. Karnataka has the highest share of production of 32.7%, followed by Tamil Nadu (25.7%), Kerala (25.4%) and Andhra Pradesh (7.7%). Vaishnaw said that the Modi government has taken a series of decisions since the June election for the welfare of farmers. “If you look at the series of programmes which have been approved after the June elections, they run in excess of Rs 2 lakh crore,” Vaishnaw told reporters here today. An official statement on the Cabinet decisions noted, “In order to provide remunerative prices to the cultivators, Government had announced in the Union Budget of 2018-19, that MSP of all the mandated crops will be fixed at levels of at least 1.5 times of all India weighted average cost of production.
Accordingly, MSP for Fair Average Quality of milling copra has been fixed at Rs 11,582 per quintal and for ball copra at Rs 12,100 per quintal for 2025 season.” The statement said that a higher MSP will not only ensure better remunerative returns to the coconut growers but also incentivize farmers to expand copra production to meet the growing demand for coconut products both domestically and internationally. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) for procurement of copra and de-husked coconut under Price Support Scheme (PSS).