Farmers Propose Affordable Loans, GST Removal on Agri Inputs, and Increased PM-Kisan Aid in Pre-Budget Talks

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman convened a meeting on Saturday with farmers' organisations and representatives from the agriculture sector for pre-budget discussions. During the meeting, several suggestions were made, including providing affordable loans to farmers, removing GST on agricultural inputs and equipment, and increasing the financial allocation under PM-Kisan.

The meeting, which lasted about two hours at the Ministry of Finance, also included agricultural economists and representatives from the pesticides and agribusiness industries, in addition to farmer organisations. Ajay Vir Jakhar, Chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, proposed implementing a uniform tax across agricultural markets in the country, similar to the GST framework. He also suggested financial compensation to states for reducing market fees and charges on horticultural products and an annual expenditure of ₹1,000 crore over the next eight years to increase production of three crops - chickpeas in pulses, soybeans (kharif) in oilseeds, and mustard (rabi).

Dharmendra Malik, National Spokesperson for the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Apolitical), told Rural Voice that he urged the Finance Minister to remove GST on fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, and agricultural equipment. The Finance Minister assured consideration of exempting equipment and inputs used entirely for agricultural activities from GST.

Malik shared that he presented 15-point suggestions to the Finance Minister, including determining MSP at 1.5 times the C2 cost, prohibiting agricultural imports below MSP prices, increasing PM-Kisan financial aid from ₹6,000 to ₹12,000 annually, raising the credit limit on Kisan Credit Cards, and lowering interest rates. He also called for extending MSP to fruits, vegetables, milk, honey, and other major crops, reforming the MSP system, and including post-harvest costs and risks in MSP calculations.

Badri Narayan Chaudhary, President of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, emphasised the need to increase the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi. He also proposed reducing GST on agricultural machinery and inputs to zero. Additionally, he suggested providing direct incentives to natural farming practitioners and transferring fertilizer subsidies to farmers' accounts via DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer).

The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh stressed that ICAR should not rely on agreements with foreign trade institutions for research but should instead allocate a sufficient budget for agricultural research, development, and outreach. The organisation’s representatives highlighted the importance of allocating higher funds in the budget for agricultural irrigation projects, making Grameen Haat markets more effective, providing adequate budgets to KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendras) for seed production, and increasing KCC limits.

Suggestions for improving the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and providing zero-premium crop insurance for small farmers were also raised. R.G. Agarwal, Chairman of the Agribusiness Committee of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, suggested reducing GST on pesticides from 18% to 5% and emphasised curbing the sale of counterfeit pesticides.

About 19 participants from farmers' organisations and the agricultural industry took part in the meeting. The event was attended by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials from the Finance and Agriculture Ministries.