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The overall thrust in this year's budget has been on reviving rural consumption
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Several measures were announced in the Budget aimed at increasing farmer income and improving agriculture's viability as a remunerative economic activity, including the potential launch of special funds for Agri start-ups, the use of 'Kisan drones' and the launch of a public-private partnership (PPP) model to encourage agri-tech players and other stakeholders in the agriculture value chain. The objective is to provide farmers with digital and high-tech services that will allow them to minimise expenses, develop new markets, and increase their competitiveness in global markets.
"This is a very important budget, in fact, I think budget is all at expected lines because there are two ways to look at budget either you spend the money in consumption and let people you give dolls and you get some populism in the system or to create a fundamental strong structure for the economy on which you build both income and Employment. I think the government of India has done the right thing instead of wasting money on the populism measures their focus on a strong fundamental foundation for the growth," said Vijay Sardana, Agriculture economist.
He further added "As far as agriculture is concerned whatever amount of dolls you give it is not going to satisfy any lobby in the country accept that fact because if you're talking about some form of a financial incentive to agriculture like a direct transfer then to which farmer you will give it to and for which farmer you will eliminate will become a controversial subject. The value of agricultural produce in the country is about 35 lakh crores and when it comes to 35 lakh crores you cannot buy everything. The best way to encourage farmers for better income is linking farmers to the market for that you need infrastructure you need information connectivity you need support infrastructure so that farmers and Consumers can talk to each other and connect with each other."
In her Budget statement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also stated that the wheat purchase in Rabi 2021-22 and the expected paddy procurement in Kharif 2021-22 will cover 1208 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh farmers. She further stated that Rs 2.37 lakh crore will be paid directly to their accounts as minimum support price (MSP) value.
"The objective of the overall budget was to revive rural consumption which in the last six months has slowed down." Said Rajat Wahi, Partner, Deloitte India.