Amit Shah launches farmer-friendly projects in Karnataka's Bagalkot

Bengaluru, January 18: During his two-day visit to Karnataka, Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various farmer-friendly projects in Bagalkot, Karnataka. He inaugurated the ethanol project of Kedarnath Sugar and Agro Products Limited in Karakalmatti Village of Bagalkot district. He also laid the foundation stone of Ayurvedic Medical College and several farming projects.

 

 

 

While addressing a rally Shah also talked about the farm law and said doubling farmers income is the biggest priority of the Modi government and the three central farm laws would increase their earnings manifold.

 

Shah said that in 2014 and 2019, the people of Karnataka had voted strongly in favor of Modi Ji and since Modi Ji has become the Prime Minister, he has taken a big step towards making a self-reliant India, - Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Shah said that since coming to power, the Modi government had increased the budget for the farm sector and also the minimum support price (MSP) for various crops.

 

Shah also listed out various programs and initiatives of the central government for the welfare of the farmers. He emphasised the use of ethanol and asserted that it is a multi-facet project that will help farmers.

 

Noting that the Modi government was promoting increasing use of ethanol in fuels like petrol and diesel, the Home Minister said sugarcane growers would also benefit from higher ethanol production.

 

 

 

"The GST (Goods and Services Tax) on ethanol has been reduced to five percent from 18 percent to encourage sugarcane growers to increase ethanol production and help the country save on crude oil import bill by blending it with petrol and diesel," said Shah.

 

Shah said ethanol production had increased 5-fold since 2014-15 to 190 crore liters in 2018-19, hinting that efforts were being made to produce ethanol even from rice paddy to benefit farmers. "Ethanol production from sugarcane and rice paddy will be increased to 400 crore liters by 2022 from 325 crore liters in 2020 for blending it more with petrol," added Shah.

 

Shah said that today the process of producing 2,600 kiloliters of ethanol per day is being done by the Nirani Group, which is a commendable effort. He also added, under the new fuel policy, the use of sugarcane juice, raw sugar, molasses, and rotten food grains has also been allowed to be used in producing ethanol.

 

Futher speaking about the 'PM-KISAN scheme benefit for farmers' Shah said, "The Narendra Modi government was committed to improving the welfare of farmers, as it had been working for them since it came to power six years ago in 2014."