New Delhi, June 19 (Agency) The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Kharif crops including jowar, bajra, ragi and tur for marketing season 2024-25. The highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for oilseeds and pulses viz. niger seed (Rs 983 per quintal) followed by sesamum (Rs 632 per quintal) and tur/arhar (Rs 550 per quintal). The MSP for paddy has been set at Rs 2,300 per quintal, an increase of Rs 117 over the MSP in the previous year 2023-24. The MSP for bajra (pearl millet) has been fixed at Rs 2,625 per quintal for the marketing season 2024-25 as against Rs 2,500 per quintal in the preceding year. “Government has increased the MSP of Kharif crops for Marketing Season 2024-25, to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce,” an official press release said.
It further said that the increase in MSP for Kharif crops for Marketing Season 2024-25 was in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times of the All-India weighted average cost of production. “The expected margin to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of bajra (77%) followed by tur (59%), maize (54%) and urad (52%). For the rest of the crops, margin to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at 50%,” the statement said. The MSPs for ragi and maize for marketing season 2024-25 have been set at Rs 4,290 and Rs 2,225 per quintal respectively. The MSP for cotton has been set at Rs 7,121 per quintal for medium staple and Rs 7,521 per quintal for long staple for the marketing season 2024-25. Groundnut oil MSP has been fixed at Rs 6,783 per quintal. In recent years, the government has been promoting the cultivation of crops, other than cereals such as pulses and oilseeds, and nutri-cereals/Shree Anna, by offering a higher MSP for these crops.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved setting up a Major Port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharastra. The project will be constructed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited (VPPL), an SPV formed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) with a shareholding of 74% and 26%, respectively. The Vadhavan Port will be developed as an all-weather Greenfield deep draft major port in Vadhavan, Palghar District, Maharashtra. The total project cost, including the land acquisition component is estimated at Rs 76,220 crore. This will include development of core infrastructure, terminals and other commercial infrastructure in public-private partnerships (PPP) mode. The cabinet also approved establishing the road connectivity between the Port and National Highways by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and rail linkage to the existing rail network and the upcoming Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor by Ministry of Railways.
“The Port will comprise nine container terminals, each 1000 meters long, four multipurpose berths, including the coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a Coast Guard berth. The Project involves the reclamation of 1,448 hectares of area in the sea and the construction of 10.14 km of offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage areas. The Project will create a cumulative capacity of 298 million metric tons (MMT) per annum, including around 23.2 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalents) of container handling capacity,” an official release said. On completion, the proposed greenfield port will be one of the top 10 ports of the world.