The government spend on Minimum Support Price (MSP) over the past three years was Rs 2,600 crore as against the Rs 1,200 crore during the 25-year-rule of the Congress party, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani calimed on Tuesday. However, agriculture experts said that during Congress' rule, market price were remunerative and so MSP was not needed. They added that the market prices were subdued during the BJP rule and therefore the government had to intervene to control agrarian distress.
Rupani also said that never before in the history of Gujarat, groundnut farmers got Rs 1,000 per 20 kg. The CM made these statements while launching the Gujarati version of the party's manifesto at 'Kamalam' state BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar. "We paid a premium of Rs 1,400 crore, against that the farmers' claims worth Rs 2,600 crore have been settled. This is the highest ever in the state. Claims have been settled in most talukas. There may be isolated cases where claims are yet to be settled," said Rupani.