BSY Tables First-of-its-kind, Rs 17,857 Crore Agri Budget

Bangalore, Feb 24 (PTI) : A first-of-its-kind Agriculture Budget was tabled in the Karnataka Assembly today by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who proposed to provide crop loans at a 1 per cent interest rate and earmarked Rs 17,857 crore for agriculture, allied and irrigation sector development. 

He said the rate of interest on crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh from cooperative institutions would be reduced from 3 per cent to 1 per cent.

In addition, an amount of Rs 1,000 crore would be provided for development of 10 lakh farmer's families under the 'Suvarna Bhoomi Yojana' scheme, Rs 200 crore for organic farming and Rs 125 crore for promotion of bio-fuels, he said.

Highlighting the woes of the farming sector, he said the Agriculture Budget would address their concerns.

The government has also earmarked a Rs 100 crore subsidy for drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation and a Rs 100 crore subsidy for agricultural purchases.
The Budget also set aside Rs 40 crore for extending the 'Bhoo Chethana' (soil enrichment) programme to all 30 districts of the state.|

Yeddyurappa said the government proposes to hold a Global Agro-Investment Meet for the first time in India and also plans to formulate a Karnataka Agri Business Development Policy.

The other Budget highlights include a Rs 40 crore provision for making available a modern mobile unit in each taluk to carry out extension work in agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry, beside a Rs 10 crore special grant for floriculture development.

Among the other initiatives proposed to be taken in 2011-12 were the establishment of an Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs 500 crore and an increase in the Agriculture Revolving Fund corpus to Rs 1,000 crore.

The Chief Minister said Rs 3,900 crore will be provided to supply quality power to irrigation pumpsets and Rs 1,000 crore to rejuvenate tanks and fill water in dried tanks.

The Karnataka government has proposed to declare 2011-20 as the 'Irrigation Decade' and will mobilise Rs 50,000 crore for water resources development.Out of this, the BJP-ruled government has allocated Rs 7,800 crore for the irrigation sector in 2011-12.

To facilitate the education of farmers' children, interest-free loans would be given for their higher education, Yeddyurappa said.

Special emphasis has also been laid in the Budget on updating land records and amendment of the Land Reforms Act, he said.

The Budget also contains a provision of Rs 5 crore for construction of 50 fish markets, Rs 100 crore for construction of small harbours and Rs 100 crore for construction of warehouses.

Yeddyurappa said the interest rate on crop loans from cooperative institutions would be reduced from 3 to 1 per cent this year. The difference of interest due to the reduction would be met by the government, he said. However, interest on crop loans up to Rs 50,000 taken from commercial banks would continue to be 3 per cent, he said.

To promote investment in the agriculture sector, the government proposes to formulate the right policy and supplement it by organising a global investment meet. There are also plans for a Global Agri Investment Meet in June, 2011, to attract large investments, he said. To support both initiatives, technical and financial project reports would be prepared and Rs 50 crore provided, he said.

Yeddyurappa said the government proposes to set up an Agriculture Infrastructure Fund with a minimum capital of Rs 500 crore to attract the investment needed to develop infrastructure for the sector and allied areas.

To take up price support operations to ensure that prices of five important crops do not go below Minimum Support price, the Agri-Revolving Fund would be increased to Rs 1,000 crore, he said.

Under the Suvarna Bhoomi Yojana, a special scheme would be implemented to rejuvenate the lives of 10 lakh farmer families, including two lakh Scheduled Caste and one lakh Scheduled Tribe members. Every family with a land holding of up to two acres will be given aid up to Rs 10,000 in two installments. If the area was less than two acres, the incentive will be given proportionately, he said.

A detailed action plan would be prepared so the schemes can be implemented from April 2011, Yeddyurappa said, adding this scheme would mainly apply to dryland farmers.

Under the organic farming mission, the number of organic farmers would be increased from 72,000 to 5,28,000 and Rs 200 crore would be provided for training and skill development.

The Bhoo Chethana scheme would be extended to 30 districts, covering about 30 lakh farmers and 31 lakh hectares. Furthermore, two lakh hectares each of agriculture and horticulture land will be brought under the Micro Irrigation scheme. In this regard, Rs 100 crore has been provided for the same in the next fiscal.

To overcome the trained manpower shortage, the government will start diploma and certificate courses in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fishery and during the year, 1000 students will be given long duration training and 3,000 short duration training, he said.

The government also plans to launch a special package for sugarcane development. Furthermore, an amount of Rs 2.5 crore will be provided for development of a Sugarcane Research Institute at Mandya and Belgaum and Rs 15 crore for the ailing MySugar factory.

An amount of Rs 9 core has been made to increase paddy and sugarcane productivity and Rs 60 crore provided in 2011-12 to facilitate the purchase of quality seeds with a 50 per cent subsidy, he said

Earlier Updates:

Karnataka Budget : Farmers to get Loans at One-percent Interest

Bangalore, Feb 24, Agencies : One per-cent interest loans for farmers, a 31-km mono rail network and a new elevated highway for Bangalore and no pay hike for state government employees are some of the highlights of the coming financial year's state budget. 

Presenting his fourth state budget and a 'first separate budget' for farmers, CM Yeddyurappa said agricultural loans would be sanctioned at one percent interest rate. He also mentioned that farmers were the backbone of the economy and steps were being taken to increase the production of agriculture. Yeddyurappa also declared the decade 2011-2020 as the Decade of agriculture'.

Talking about 'Namma Metro' the CM said Bangalore Metro rail service will begin on April 4.

Highlights of farmers budget :

Total size of budget is 85,319 crore
Non project expenses Rs 47249 crore

*Karnataka agricultural development policy to be strengthened
*World agriculture investment summit in June 2011
* New courses for diploma in agriculture
*Stipend for agricultural students
*Rs 2 lakh insurance for farmers
*Training to be given to five lakh farmers in organic farmers
* Rs 289 crore sanctioned to improve Krishna project
*Rs 17,850 crore allocation for the agricultural sector
*Rs 125 crore for Bio Farming and Rs 100 crore for drip irrigation
*Rs 1000 crore earmarked for 'Suvarna Bhoomi' project
*Rs 3900 crore for supply of electricity to IP sets
*Better IP sets to be provided to farmers to reduce power consumption
*RS 2123 crore for uninterrupted power supply to farmers
*Rs 1000 crore for renovation of ponds and lakes
*Desilting and rejuvenation of 23,000 lakes
*Intrest free loans for higher education for farmer's children
*Agriculture revolving funds to be increased to Rs 1000 crore
*Rs 100 crore for small ports
*Rs 200 crore for organic farming
*State biofuel board has been set up
*Seeds to be supplied to farmers at 50 percent subsidy
*Rs 9 crore to encourage paddy and sugarcane production
*Single window scheme to help farmers
*Rs 25 crore for coconut cultivation
*More neera processing units to be set up
*Exemption of VAT for floriculture
*Rs 2 crore to combat diseases that afflict areca plantation
*Rs 10 crore for APMCs across the state
*Veterinarian Colleges to be set in Gadag and Athini
*Mega dairy at Mysore, KMF will mobilise funds for this
*Rs 2.5 crore for prevention of epidemics
*Rs 10 crore as incentives for fish farming
*Construction of 50 new fish markets at Rs 5 crore
*2000 houses at Rs 60,000 each for fishermen
*Software programme to be developed for documentation of land records

State budget highlights

*State plan outlay for 2011-12 kept at Rs 38070 crore
* Plan expenditure has increased by 16.1 percent
*Non-plan expenditure is expected to increase by 7.7 percent in the first 10 months
*State Government is contributing 50 percent of cost of 16 railway projects
*Rs 67792 earmarked for infrastructure development
*Rs 120 crore for new airports at Shimoga, Hassan, Bellary, Bijapur, Gulbarga
*Rs 15 crore for Mangalore airport
*GAIL to set up company in Bangalore
*600 MW power plant to come up in Udupi
*Rs 30 crore for sharing cost of railway over bridge and under bridge projects
*Rs 1300 crore for highway development
*42.3 KM Metro route to be ready by 2013
*Rs 50 crore for Kodagu road development
*No implementation of sixth pay commission
*VAT hiked from 13.5 percent to 14 percent
*Rs 10 crore for Karavali region
*Rs 250 crore for students bicycle scheme
*Development of 20 KM road in each of 189 assembly constituencies
*1000 crore for roads in rural areas
*1250 crore for drinking water projects
*400 crore for 'Suvarna Gramodya Yojana'
*Rs 86 crore for mother and child welfare
*760crore for development of backward classes
*Rs 400 crore for 'Bhagyalakshmi' scheme
*Rs 326 crore for minorities
*Rs 16 crore for Wakf boards
*Rs 5 crore for 'Haj Mahal' in Bangalore
*90,000 crore to generate employment
*Rs 10 crore to develop Hampi city
*Rs 100 crore theme park in Hampi
*Rs 10 crore for Mysore Dasara festival
*35 Karnataka- One centers modelled on Bangalore-One centres in 9 cities
*Rs 1742 crore for social security schemes
*Rs 40 crore for programmes connected with e-governance
* Rs 25 crore aid for Hubli KIMS
* Rs 138 crore 'Suvarna Soudha in Belgaum
*Metro to be completed by 2013

Sector-wise expenditure

*Commerce and industry - Rs 1457 crore
*Urban Development - Rs 7710 crore
*Revenue department - Rs 2415 crore
*Women and Child welfare department -  2319 crore
*Health and Family - 3254 crore
*Housing - 1194 crore
*Revenue -  2415 crore
*Education - 12284 crore
*Water resources - 7800 crore
*Energy -  8523 crore
*BWSSB - 1150 crore
*Animal husbandary and fisheries - 1077 crore
*Public works department - 4319 crore
*Infrastructure - 67792 crore
*Tourism sector -  Rs 250 crore
*Higher education  -  Rs 2002 
*Interior admin and transportation -  Rs 3602 crore
*Building warehouses - Rs 100 crore
 

Bangalore

Rs 4770 for overall development of Bangalore

*31 Km network of monorail in Bangalore
*Potable water supply at Rs 3384 crore
*BDA to form three new layouts
*12 parks and entertainment centres to be developed
*Sculpture park to come up on an eight acre plot
*International conventional centre near BIA at Rs 150 crore
*Rs 350 crore for BBMP
*Elevated road from Minerva circle to Hudson circle via JC road
*10 new vehicle parking lots
*4 super speciality hospital in four zones of the city under PPP
*10 Bus stands to be built in BBMP area
*Tax hiked for Bangalore turf club

Kannada language and development

*Rs 5 crore towards financial assistance to Kannada writers to publish their work
*Rs 50,000 for celebrating Basava Jayanthi, Kanaka Jayanthi, Valmiki Jayanthi and Ambedkar Jayanthi
*Rs 1 crore for Janapada parishad, Janapada university in Shiggaon
*Rs 25 crore for establishing Basava International centre
*Rs 10 crore for Kala Bhavan in honour of Kempegowda