The Hindu : National : Farm summit seeks tax sops

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 20, 2006
ePaper

National

National

Farm summit seeks tax sops

Special Correspondent

For drawing private investment

NEW DELHI : The two-day Agriculture Summit 2006 has spelt out a five point fiscal agenda, mostly seeking tax exemptions, to draw large-scale private investment in agriculture and rural investment.

Announcing the recommendations, Union Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh said the Government proposed to facilitate single-window clearance of perishable cargo.

The summit, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry with the Agriculture Ministry, proposed a 100 per cent depreciation for infrastructure development in the agri-value chain, 150 per cent tax deduction for applied rural extension, a "plethora" of taxes and development of a "stable" market for agri-commodities, tax relief on equipment used by bio-fuel industries and creation of a single window for venture capital support under the Rural Industries Development Fund. .

Other recommendations relate to market reform and investment, grain balance and food security, mitigation of crop risk, enhancement of agri exports and generating alternative income streams by way of fisheries and poultry development.

Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath chaired the valedictory session attended by the Minister of State for Food Processing, Subodh Kant Sahai. Mr. Nath said the Government had said that mainly wasteland, and, if necessary, single crop agriculture land alone should be acquired for Special Economic Zones. "If perforce a portion of double cropped agriculture land has to be acquired to meet the minimum area requirements, it should not exceed 10 per cent of the total land required for the SEZs. So far in the 150 SEZs approved, not a single farmer has been displaced.''

He said a major challenge in the farm sector was that not all products and zones could be clubbed together. At the same time there was an "imbalance" in the contribution of industry, service sector and agriculture to the economy.

Referring to the negotiations at the World Trade Organisation, Mr. Nath said there was "injustice" in the subsidy given by developed countries to their farmers. "

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National