Nirmala Sitharaman on Economic Package: FM announces Rs 1-lakh-crore agri infra fund, new scheme for MFEs in third tranche; key takeaways

On Friday, in her third address to the media, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman focussed on agriculture and the whole gamut from amending Essential Commodities Act to agri marketing reform, bee keeping and more. Announcing the third tranche of an overall package of Rs 20 lakh crore to deal with the economic fallout of COVID-19 pandemic, the finance minister announced a Rs 1 lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund that will finance projects at farm-gate and aggregation point for efficient post-harvest management of crops. Besides, schemes for micro food enterprises, cattle vaccination, dairy sector, herbal plantation, beekeeping, and fruits and vegetables were also announced. Here are the main takeaways from the conference: Funds transfer worth Rs 18,700 crores has been done under PM KISAN in past two months and PM Fasal Bima Yojana claims worth Rs 6,400 crores released in past 2 months.

#RestartingIndia | FM @nsitharaman today announced the third tranche of #EconomicPackage.

Take a quick look at all the measures announced👇👇#Coronavirus #IndiaFightsCoronavirus pic.twitter.com/6y00tow2LO

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) May 15, 2020

New scheme has been launched for interest subvention @ 2% per annum to dairy cooperatives for 2020-21 aimed at unlocking Rs 5000 crores additional liquidity, benefitting 2 crore farmers. To help Fisheries sector, operations of Marine Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture has been relaxed to cover Inland Fisheries. In a move to strenghten infrastructure in agriculture, financing facility of Rs. 1 lakh crore will be provided for funding Agriculture Infrastructure Projects at farm-gate and aggregation points. [caption id=“attachment_7679911” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. PTI[/caption] Aiming to implement PM’s vision of ‘Vocal for Local with Global outreach’, a scheme will be launched to help 2 lakh Micro Food Enterprises; Improved health and safety standards, integration with retail markets and improved incomes to be key focus areas. Government to launch Rs 20,000-cr Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for integrated, sustainable, inclusive development of marine and inland fisheries to plug critical gaps in fisheries value chain; move will provide employment to over 55 lakh persons and double exports to Rs 1 lakh crore. As much as Rs 11,000 crore out of Rs 20,000 crore is kept for activities in marine, inland fisheries and aquaculture. Meanwhile, the rest of Rs 9,000 cr is for creating infrastructure such as fishing harbours, cold chains and markets. National Animal Disease Control Programme has been launched with total outlay of Rs 13,343 crores 100% vaccination of of cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat and pig population. Government announces an Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund worth Rs. 15,000 crore to support private investment in Dairy Processing, value addition and cattle feed infrastructure. To promote Herbal Cultivation in India Government commits Rs 4,000 crore; move aims to cover 10 lakh hectare under herbal cultivation in 2 years; corridor of medicinal plants to come up across banks of Ganga. Government to implement a scheme for infrastructure development related to Beekeeping; aims to increase income for 2 lakh beekeepers with special thrust on capacity building of women. In a major announcement, Government extended Operation Greens from Tomatoes, Onion and Potatoes (TOP) to all fruits and vegetables. Government will amend Essential Commodities Act to enable better price realisation for farmers; Agriculture food stuffs including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions and potato will be deregulated. To provide assurance to farmer on Agriculture Produce Price and Quality, facilitative legal framework will be created to enable farmers for engaging with processors, aggregators, large retailers, exporters etc. in fair and transparent manner. Government to bring in law to implement agriculture marketing reforms to provide marketing choices to farmers; law will provide adequate choices to farmer to sell produce at attractive price.