Industry welcomes eye on infra, inclusion of ‘kisan drones’
NEW DELHI: The industry on Tuesday welcomed the Budget’s focus on the agriculture sector, including developing infrastructure and expanding the role of technology.
“The Budget, presented against a backdrop of a strong rebound of the economy has set the foundation for taking agriculture on a sustained higher growth trajectory during the ‘Amrit Kal’ towards India @100,” Syngenta India chief sustainability officer KC Ravi said.
“Another significant announcement is the emphasis on use of kisan drones for crop assessments, land records, spraying of insecticides and micronutrients, which will be a game-changer for the agriculture sector,” he added.
Godrej Agrovet managing director Balram Yadav called it a balanced Budget, focused on boosting infrastructure and supporting the agriculture sector with incentives and technological fillip.
Dhanuka Agritech Group chairman RG Agarwal labelled as “welcomes steps” the government’s focus on augmenting infrastructure via the Gati
Shakti plan and focus on the promotion of usage of drones for various farm activities.
“However, it would have been also apt had the finance minister... reduced GST and customs duty rates on some of the agro-chemicals products, which would have reduced the overall cost for the farmers,” he added.
Bayer South Asia president and global head of smallholder farming D Narain said the announcement in this year’s Budget on strengthening the delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers through the public-private partnership model will go a long way in improving the scaling up of agri value chains and help Indian farmers reap the benefits of technological advancements.
Licious co-founder Vivek Gupta said, “I am hopeful that the co-investment model, facilitated through NABARD to finance start-ups for agriculture and rural enterprise will unlock more opportunities there.”
The capping of the surcharge on the long-term capital gains payable on financial assets at 15% is good news for investors in equity shares of start-ups, he added.