Agritech companies are looking forward to the upcoming Union Budget, the first of the third term of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government, with expectations of big announcements for the agriculture sector and farmers, in particular.
Earlier this year, during the Interim Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, addressing the farmers as ‘Annadata’, said, “Every year, under PM-KISAN SAMMAN Yojana, direct financial assistance is provided to 11.8 crore farmers, including marginal and small farmers, while crop insurance is given to 4 crore farmers under PM Fasal Bima Yojana.”
According to her, such policies have assisted the farmers in producing food for the country and the world. She further added that the worries about food have been eliminated through free ration for 800 million people.
But what do Indian agritech start-ups expect?
Dhanashree Mandhani, founder and CEO of Salam Kisan and PRYM Aerospace, said, “The proposed agriculture budget of approximately Rs 1.17 lakh crore for FY25 highlights the government’s robust commitment to revitalising India’s agricultural sector.”
However, she added that the sector is likely to await government support in terms of subsidies and tax incentives, which were missing in the previous Budget. The major expectation of the industry from this year’s Budget is support for sustainable and technologically advanced methods of farming.
“These could include incentives and subsidies to farmers for adopting precision farming equipment and technologies, incentives to GI polyhouse and greenhouse farms based on AI/ML, tax incentives and benefits to agritech firms investing in R&D, and a certain regulatory framework that ensures ease of innovation while protecting data privacy and security,” she added.
She further added that provisioning of the availability of credit will be much more reasonable and accessible for agritech start-ups and small-scale farmers to afford the new technology. Training programmes with subsidies or grants to enhance farmers’ and agritech entrepreneurs’ capacity in applying new technologies effectively in better farming practices.
These are rural infrastructure investments for storage, cold chains, and transport networks needed to carry out the efficient distribution and marketing of agricultural produce, she added.
To this, DeHaat’s Co-founder Shashank Kumar added, “The principal expectation is the continuity of the policies which have worked out well. But for crop cluster development, it is important for the government to roll out programmes like increased incentives and subsidies so that farmers can switch from single paddy a year to horticulture.”
Currently, maize (corn) is an important crop because of the huge demand. But there is a supply of only 10 million ton corns to meet 40-42 million tonnes demand, which is certainly insufficient. Also, Indian farmers need to be offered incentives to be able to export multiple crops, Kumar added.
On continuity, Mandhani shared that she expects the expansion of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana for small farmers because it strengthens financial security by providing insurance coverage against crop loss due to natural disasters.