SME Times News Bureau | 03 Jul, 2015
India Inc. on Thursday welcomed the government approval to
set up an online national agriculture market through an Agri-Tech
Infrastructure Fund as well as a new national irrigation scheme.
"Promotion of national agricultural market through Agri-Tech
Infrastructure Fund is a step in the right direction as it will step up reforms
in the agricultural marketing sector," Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (Ficci) president Jyotsna Suri said in a statement here.
"Unifying the national market through e-platform will give higher
transparency and better market access at better prices for farmers," she
said.
The government allocated Rs.200 crore for three years to set up the online
agriculture market by integrating 585 wholesale markets across India.
The irrigation scheme will have an outlay of Rs.50,000 crore over a period of
five years beginning the current fiscal.
The allocation for the current financial year is Rs.5,300 crore.
"With nearly 50 percent of Indian agriculture being rain fed, substantial
investments in irrigation was the need of the hour, which this scheme seeks to
address," the Ficci president said.
"The best part of the scheme is its decentralised nature that will provide
states with flexibility in designing the implementation," she added.