Budget 2025: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday held a meeting with farmer representatives and agriculture stakeholders as part of the pre-Budget meetings. During this, farmers urged the government to provide cheap long-term loans, implement lower taxes and double the PM-Kisan income support. There was a detailed discussion on various proposals in the meeting for two hours. During this, solutions to many challenges of the agriculture sector like financial relief, market reforms and strategic investment were considered.
Demand for GST exemption
Bharat Krishak Samaj Chairman Ajay Veer Jakhar stressed the need for targeted interventions to boost agricultural productivity and farmer welfare. The main demands of the farmers included reducing the interest rate on agricultural loans by one per cent and increasing the annual PM-Kisan installment from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000. Stakeholders also demanded GST exemption on agricultural machinery, fertilizers, seeds and medicines under the taxation reform proposals. PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry requested to reduce GST on pesticides from 18 percent to five percent.
This demand was also made
Jakhar proposed a targeted investment strategy of Rs 1,000 crore annually for eight years to focus on specific crops like gram, soybean and mustard to increase national agricultural productivity. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Dharmendra Malik demanded a comprehensive review of the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism. He said land rent, farm wages and post-harvest expenses should be included in the calculation of MSP. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Finance and Agriculture ministries also attended the meeting.
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