2000 crore for farmers

The finance minister Jaitley said that indirect tax system was made simpler with the introduction of goods and services Tax (GST).

Jaitley said structural reforms would help the economy to achieve strong growth in the medium and long term. He expected that India to become 5th largest economy soon.

“On purchasing power parity basis we are already the third largest economy and we hope to grow at 7.2 to 7.5 per cent in the second half,” he said.

“Our government has worked sincerely for various reforms without keeping the political angle in mind. Our emphasis is on generating higher income for farmers, and want to help farmers produce more from the same parcel of land and realise higher prices for their produce,” he added.

Minimum support price for kharif crops to be 1.5 times the cost of produce, he announced. “The government will create an institutional mechanism involving all concerned ministries so that the farmers get a better price for their produce,” he said.

Jaitley also announced to set up an agriculture market fund with a corpus of Rs 2,000 crore.

The finance said the government will work with NITI Aayog to develop system of optimal farm price realisation and develop existing 22,000 GRAM centres. GRAMs to help farmers for direct sales.

Jaitley announced the government will set up fishery and aquaculture development fund and animal husbandry fund, with a total corpus of Rs 10,000 crore.He proposes to launch Operation Green for which a sum of Rs 500 crore will be allocated.

“Our government has ensured that the people get their benefits directly and on time. Our Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme has eleminated the middleman in India,” he said.

He went on add that manufacturing sector is back on growth path, services sector too has resumed its high growth rate at 8 per cent. “We are firmly on track to achieve high growth of 8 per cent,” the finance minister said.

With demonetisation, the quantum of cash currency in circulation and increased tax base and has also help improve the digitalization of our country, he said.