Will govt back private cos' farm land buy abroad?

New Delhi: India’s agriculture ministry has sought views from other ministries on an institutional mechanism to extend sovereign support to private companies’ acquisition of farm land abroad, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday.

“We had asked Indian Institute of Foreign Trade to conduct a study. As of now there is a debate going on whether the government should get into it or not,” Agriculture secretary PK Basu was quoted as saying in the report.

He did not reveal a concrete proposal is under consideration, the report said.

India faces deficit of pulses and vegetable oil, making it vulnerable to price shocks in the global market.

Reuters