UP Budget: Govt targets 5.1% agri growth, power bill relief to farmers

Aiming to achieve a 5.1 per cent growth in agriculture, the Uttar Pradesh government, which presented the budget on Monday, has made a provision of Rs 460 crore for three new agriculture-related schemes.

Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said an outlay of Rs 2,400 crore has been proposed to provide electricity at concessional rates to the private tube wells of farmers. The amount is 25 per cent more than the budget for the same provided in the current financial year.
Claiming that agriculture is one of the priority sectors for the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the Budget would also support innovations to increase produce amidst global warming as well as setting up of “Automatic Weather Stations” to assist farmers in every Gram Panchayat.

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Furthermore, the government has lifted the ban on giving permission for installing water pumps in “Dark Zones” along with Rs 70 crore provision for reviving defunct 569 water pumps in those zones. The CM also said that UP has become the “first state” to adopt “green tagging” in its 17 departments, adding this year’s budget could also be called “pink budget” due to provisions made for schemes to empower girls and women, such as increasing support amount under Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana to Rs 25,000.