New Delhi [India], May 28 (ANI): The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday took a series of decisions, including raising the Minimum Support Price for kharif crops, and extension of interest subvention scheme for farmers.

The Union Cabinet also announced railway projects that will benefit Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, besides a four-lane highway in the coastal state of Andhra Pradesh.

Coming to the MSP for kharif crops, the government, every year, revises the MSP of key kharif crops ahead of the sowing by farmers, to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce.

This year, the highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for nigerseed (Rs 820 per quintal) followed by Ragi (Rs 596 per quintal), Cotton (Rs 589 per quintal) and Sesamum (Rs 579 per quintal).

For paddy, it has been raised by Rs 69.

For pulses tur/arhar and moong, it has been raised by Rs 450 and Rs 86, respectively. MSP has been raised for urad by Rs 400.

Coming to oilseeds, MSP for groundnut, sunflower seed, and soybean has been raised by Rs 480, Rs 441, and Rs 436, respectively.

For cotton, MSP has been upped by Rs 589.

The increase in MSP for Kharif Crops for marketing season 2025-26 is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times of the all-India weighted average cost of production.

The expected margin to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of bajra (63 per cent) followed by maize (59 per cent), tur (59 per cent) and urad (53 per cent). For rest of the crops, margin to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at 50 per cent.

'In the recent years, the government has been promoting the cultivation of crops, other than cereals such as pulses and oilseeds, and Nutri-cereals/Shree Anna, by offering a higher MSP for these crops,' the government said.

India has three cropping seasons: Summer, Kharif, and Rabi. Kharif crops, sown during June-July and dependent on monsoon rains, are harvested in October-November. Rabi crops, sown in October-November, are harvested from January, depending on their maturity. Summer crops are produced between the Rabi and Kharif seasons.

Moving on to the interest subvention scheme, the Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the scheme for farmers for the financial year 2025-26, and approved required fund arrangements.

It is a Central Sector Scheme aimed at ensuring the availability of short-term credit to farmers at an affordable interest rate through Kisan Credit card (KCC).

Under the Scheme: Farmers received short-term loans of up to Rs 3 lakh through Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) at a subsidized interest rate of 7 per cent, with 1.5 per cent interest subvention provided to eligible lending institutions.

Additionally, farmers repaying loans promptly are eligible for an incentive of up to 3 per cent as Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) effectively reducing their interest rate on KCC loans to 4 per cent.

For loans taken exclusively for animal husbandry or fisheries, the interest benefit is applicable up to Rs 2 lakh.

No changes have been proposed in the structure or other components of the scheme by the Cabinet.

'There are more than 7.75 crores of KCC accounts in the country. The continuation of this support is critical to sustaining the flow of institutional credit to agriculture, which is vital for enhancing productivity and ensuring financial inclusion for small and marginal farmers,' the government said in a statement today.

In today's cabinet meeting, two multitracking projects across Indian Railways to ensure seamless and faster transportation of both passengers and goods were approved.

These projects include Ratlam- Nagda 3rd and 4th line; and Wardha- Balharshah 4th line.

The total estimated cost of the projects is Rs 3,399 crore (approx.) and will be completed upto 2029-30.

The two projects covering four Districts across the states of Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 176 Kms. The proposed multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to approx. 784 villages, which are having a population of about 19.74 lakh.

These are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as coal, cement, clinker, gypsum, fly ash, containers, agricultural commodities, and Petroleum products, etc.

In another and last decision, the Cabinet has approved the construction of 4-lane Badvel-Nellore Corridor with a length of 108.134 km for Rs 3,653.10 crore in Andhra Pradesh on NH(67).

The proposed highway will be built on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) mode.

The approved Badvel-Nellore corridor will provide connectivity to important nodes in the three Industrial Corridors of Andhra Pradesh, i.e., Kopparthy Node on the Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), Orvakal Node on Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (HBIC) and Krishnapatnam Node on Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC).

Badvel Nellore Corridor starts from Gopavaram Village on the existing National Highway NH-67 in the YSR Kadapa District and terminates at the Krishnapatnam Port Junction on NH-16 (Chennai-Kolkata) in SPSR Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh and will also provide strategic connectivity to the Krishnapatnam Port which has been identified as a priority node under Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC).

The proposed corridor will reduce the travel distance to Krishanpatnam port by 33.9 km from 142 km to 108.13 km as compared to the existing Badvel-Nellore road. This will reduce the travel time by one hour and ensure that substantial gain is achieved in terms of reduced fuel consumption thereby reducing carbon foot print and Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC). The details of project alignment and Index Map is enclosed as Annexure-I. (ANI)