Ahead of the Maharashtra state assembly elections, scheduled for the end of this year, the BJP-led central government announced a series of measures on Saturday aimed at supporting distressed farmers.
Among these, the government committed to purchasing soybeans at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and reduced the export tax on onions from 40% to 20%.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde welcomed the central government’s decision, stating that it would benefit onion and soybean farmers.
“They have made a significant decision to lift the ban on onion exports, and the taxes on soybean imports have been increased so that domestic farmers will get better prices for their produce,” Shinde remarked.
The state’s Agriculture Minister, Dhananjay Munde, expressed gratitude to the central government for agreeing to purchase soybeans at the government rate within 90 days. He further noted that the increased import duty on onions would help domestic farmers secure fair prices for their crops.
The centre has raised the import duty on unfiltered oil from 5.5% to 27.7%, while the tax on refined oil has gone up from 13.7% to 35.75%. Munde added, “Traders who earlier imported oil from other countries will now have to buy oil and raw materials domestically.