Govt hikes MSP for rabi crops; no decision on wheat

01 Nov 2012

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in its meeting held today approved increased minimum support prices (MSP) for the rabi crops for 2012-13, to be marketed in 2013-14.

The CCEA has approved hike in the support price of five rabi crops such as gram and masur by up to 20 per cent for the next year starting April 2013.

The CCEA has accepted the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) except in case of wheat for which there would be further consultation, an official release said today.

"Except for wheat, the CCEA has approved the MSP of all other rabi (winter) crops. There will be a fresh cabinet note on wheat," sources close to the development said on Thursday.

The CCEA has approved the MSP of Barley at Rs980 per quintal while the minimum support price of gram and masur has been raised by Rs400 per quintal each to Rs3,200 for the 2013-14 marketing year (April-March).

The support price of these two pulses was fixed at Rs2,800 per quintal, respectively, for this year.This has been done to reduce the country's dependence on imports, CCEA said.