Record Rs 200/quintal hike in MSP for paddy: Modi

New Delhi: In a historic decision the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday hiked the minimum support price for paddy by a record Rs 200 per quintal that will cost the exchequer over Rs 15,000 crore, and help fulfil its poll promise to give farmers 50 per cent more rate than their cost of production.

The decision, taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, comes less than a year before next general election.

Hailing the highest ever single-year hike in the MSP of paddy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government had fulfilled its promise to farmers.

"I am delighted that the promise made by the government to our farmer brothers and sisters of giving minimum support price at 1.5 times the production cost has been fulfilled. There has been a historic increase in the MSP. Congratulations to all farmers," Modi tweeted in Hindi.

Briefing about the CCEA decision, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the cabinet had approved the MSP of 14 kharif (summer-sown) crops for the 2018-19 season.

Singh, who was flanked by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, said, "Farmers are the largest producer, consumer and customer in this country but they never got the price they deserved for their produce. Modiji understood this, and now farmers will get 1.5 times more MSP on their produce."

The home minister added, "By 2022, the income of farmers would be doubled, as promised by the government. This decision will increase the purchasing capacity of the farmers which in turn will widen the economic impact."

The minimum support price for paddy has been hiked by 1.5 times, while the rest by approximately 50 per cent. According to the data of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), the input cost of paddy is Rs 1,166 per quintal for which government has set an MSP of Rs 1,750 per quintal that is a hike of 50 per cent, as compared to the MSP of Rs 1,550/quintal last year. Further, the MSP for maize has been fixed at Rs 1,700/quintal, for cotton Rs 5,150/quintal, sunflower seeds Rs 5,388/quintal, soybean Rs 3,399/quintal and mole Rs 6,249/quintal, groundnut Rs 4,890/ quintal, tur Rs 5,675/ quintal, etc.