Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah has stated that the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is boosting exports to ensure that farmers receive a fair price for their crops, allowing them to earn maximum value for their produce.
In a post on ‘X’ platform, he said keeping the welfare of farmers paramount, the Modi government has made three important decisions:
— it has decided to remove the Minimum Export Price (MEP) on onions and reduce the export duty from 40% to 20%. This will increase onion exports, resulting in a rise in income for onion-producing farmers;
— it has also decided to remove the MEP on Basmati rice, enabling Basmati rice-producing farmers to export and earn higher profits; and
— it has decided to increase the duty on the import of crude palm, soyabean, and sunflower oils from 12.5% to 32.5% and on their refined oils from 13.75% to 35.75%. This will ensure that Indian soybean farmers receive better prices for their crops, thus increasing their income.