PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry government announced an enhancement of the housing subsidy for Adi Dravidas from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 7 lakhs, as Chief Minister N Rangasamy stated in the Assembly on Tuesday.
Agriculture Minister C Djeacoumar mentioned that the government will extend the old-age pension to 10,000 new beneficiaries in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
In response to demands for grants, he explained that to promote mechanized agriculture under the central government's "Agricultural Mechanisation Support Initiative," the Puducherry government will provide a 15% subsidy in addition to the 25% to 50% subsidy offered by the Government of India for the purchase of tractors, power tillers, planters, hay-making machines, related implements, and harvesters. This initiative is specifically aimed at small, marginal, and women farmers, Scheduled Caste, and tribal farmers. The government will incur an expenditure of Rs 60 lakhs to reduce the financial burden on these farmers.
He also announced an increase in incentives for high-yielding paddy over two cropping seasons: from Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 per acre per season for general farmers and from Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 per acre per season for Scheduled Caste farmers.
The incentive for traditional paddy cultivation will increase from Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000 for general farmers and from Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000 for Scheduled Caste farmers. Additionally, the government has announced enhanced incentives for cultivating sugarcane, millets, groundnuts, sesame, cotton, and fodder.