Centre clears compensation plan for Karnataka mango farmers after price crash

In a major relief to mango farmers in Karnataka grappling with falling prices, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday announced that the Central and Karnataka governments will jointly compensate farmers for the price difference in mango sales.The decision was taken during a video conference between Chouhan and Karnataka's Agriculture Minister N Chaluvaraya Swamy, with Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi also participating in the meeting.advertisementThe two governments have agreed to bear the cost of the price gap for up to 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes - 25 per cent of Karnataka's total estimated production of 10 lakh metric tonnes this season.
The initiative is aimed particularly at addressing the drastic price drop in the Totapuri variety, which has left farmers earning significantly below the usual market rates.As per the agreement, the financial burden of the compensation will be equally shared by the Centre and the state under an existing central government scheme.Farmers will be paid the difference between the prevailing market price and the usual rate they typically receive, providing crucial monetary support during a time of distress.This relief measure follows a proposal earlier submitted by the Karnataka government to the Centre, highlighting the steady decline in prices of tomatoes and mangoes. However, during the meeting, the Karnataka agriculture minister noted that while tomato prices were low at the time of the proposal, they have now stabilised, and no immediate action is needed in that regard.Tune InTrending Reel

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Hindustan Times

32 minutes ago

• Hindustan Times

Centre shelves ₹8,000-crore greenfield cities mega scheme

The Union government has shelved the scheme to incubate eight new cities, as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission (FC), according to senior government officials. A senior official at the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), on condition of anonymity, said that ₹ 8,000 crore allotted for the scheme will now be subsumed under another new scheme. Lavasa city in Maharashtra. (HT Archive) A second official said that this new scheme may be designed based on ongoing deliberations between the ministry, NITI Aayog, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for infrastructure upgrades in smaller cities with a population of up to 100,000, as per the 2011 Census. The decision to shelve the greenfield cities plan came after the Union government already received 26 proposals, including one for Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, Jagiroad in Assam, GIFT City expansion in Gujarat, Jabalpur Extension in Madhya Pradesh, Virul and Sawargaon Mal in Maharashtra, among others. In many of these cities, the state governments had already started making investments of their own. Subsequently, after a second nudge, two more proposals from northeastern states were also received by MoHUA, according to a reply in the Parliament in December 2024. The second government official said the decision to put the FC's proposed idea on the back-burner came from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The official said the PMO's decision was based on presentations made by interministerial groups along with the NITI Aayog and other stakeholders as part of preparatory meetings for the 100-day agenda of the new government in the first half of 2024. This official said that instead of going for greenfield cities, the PMO has called for efficient investments in existing organic cities as the next 'growth hubs' rather than developing new 'cities from scratch'. The first official quoted above said that for the current financial year, the Centre is promoting planned greenfield townships through the Centre's Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) programme. SASCI provides 50-year interest-free loans for capital investment projects based on the adoption of reforms across sectors, including urban development, advocated by the Centre. Townships typically are a planned self-contained primarily residential development that can act as a mini-city but planned as an expansion of an existing city in rural areas or as an add-on to large industrial belts. While MoHUA is still framing the contours of the marquee ₹ 100,000 crore 'urban challenge' scheme, as mentioned by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech, the official said it is likely to target smaller cities, and not the Capital or other large cities. 'So far, it has been decided that smaller cities and even towns with a population between 50,000 and 100,000 (will be considered),' the official said, adding that while bigger cities can be the 'growth hubs', the smaller sub-100,000 cities will be covered so that their basic infrastructure can be upgraded. The FC, in its report tabled in the Parliament in 2021, had recommended the eight new cities to address a host of challenges faced by urbanisation in India, such as to alleviate the population burden on existing mega cities and check the haphazard growth at city peripheries, as is the case with most Indian cities. A report in 2022 by the Niti Aayog and ADB said that even though cities occupy only about 3% of India's land area, they contribute to around 60% of the GDP. 'Focus on peri-urban' 'City economies aren't confined to municipal limits; peri-urban areas are increasingly driving urban GDP, especially around large cities where much of the recent growth has occurred in an ad hoc manner,' Jaya Dhindaw, executive programme director of sustainable cities and director, WRI India Ross Centre, said. She emphasised that to sustain this momentum, priority must be given to planning and investing in areas beyond city boundaries, with integrated infrastructure and services. She said, 'Governance in these transitional zones—whether under gram panchayats or small-town municipalities—needs to be reimagined with clear frameworks agreed upon by states and the Centre.' She added that attention must also turn to Tier-II and Tier-III cities, both of which demand a tailored approach. 'In large cities, the focus should be on improving livability for all. In smaller cities, we must prioritise access to education, skilling, capacity building, and improving the quality and availability of basic services and amenities.' For this to work, she stressed, states must have the flexibility to identify their priorities to enable balanced regional growth, while the Centre should play an enabling role by establishing standards. Artificial cities not for India Another urban planning expert, Rutul Joshi, professor of urban planning at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, said the decision to do away with the idea of greenfield cities is a 'good idea' as cities are not just townships but economic agglomerations. 'People move to cities as there are jobs there and not the other way around. Historically, the idea of creating artificial cities has not worked well, be it when the government does it or the private sector,' he said, citing the examples of 'ghost city' Lavasa in Maharashtra, GIFT City, or even Gandhinagar in Gujarat, which was made the state capital in 1970. The experience has been no different in Naya Raipur (Atal Nagar), Chhattisgarh. It was planned to be the largest greenfield city at the turn of the millennium, but it has failed to take off. While the target was to have 560,000 residents by 2031, the population has stagnated well short of 100,000 by 2025. Densify city core Joshi said governments in India (Centre and states) should respect the market momentum and focus on densification of city cores, which have traditionally been hollow, rather than building things from scratch. 'This is the right time to create enabling instruments for re-densification and renewal of the building stock in the big cities and limit the growth at peripheries. All global cities have done this at some point in time, be it London or Hong Kong.' Stating the example of the national capital Delhi, Joshi said that even if the Luytens' Bungalow Zone is kept out of this due to political and security reasons, multiple areas near public transit in south Delhi can be densified with Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) principles to maximise the benefits of investments made for the metro network and make urbanisation efficient at large. Redevelop existing cities R Srinivas, former town planner at the country and town planner with MoHUA said that in 2018-19, MoHUA, as part of a sub-scheme of the flagship AMRUT mission, had introduced a local area planning/town planning scheme pilot covering 25 cities across the country with a total outlay of ₹ 50 crore for brownfield development. 'Among them, only Indore is a prominent city that worked on brownfield development and Chennai is currently doing so in the George Town area.' For these to work, the states were advised to revise their town and country planning acts, and many states are yet to implement the necessary legal changes, he added. While Delhi was left out of MoHUA's plan, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) prepared more than 30 Local Area Plans (LAPs), but the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Act did not allow for that, which meant the plans remained as an advisory only. 'In 2017-18, a committee was formed under the then DDA chairman Madhukar Gupta, which also recommended the changes in the DDA Act, but MoHUA did not act to revise the law.'

Time of India

an hour ago

• Time of India

Corpn can't tax railway property: HC

Madurai: Article 285(1) of the Constitution indicates that the property of the Union shall be exempt from all taxes imposed by a state, even if it is put to commercial use, observed Madras high court . The court set aside a single bench order dismissing a plea moved by Madurai Multi Functional Complex Private Limited challenging the demand notice issued by Madurai corporation seeking payment of property tax. The land in Madurai belongs to railways. To develop vacant land parcels owned by railways, The Railways Act, 1989, was amended and Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA) was constituted. In 2013, RLDA and Ircon Infrastructure and Services Limited entered into an agreement for development of railway land throughout India. Subsequently, Ircon entered into a sub-lease agreement for 30 years with Madurai Multi Functional Complex Private Limited concerning the property in Madurai. The Multi Functional Complex was constructed by Ircon on a 2,700 sq metre plot within Madurai railway station premises. Madurai corporation assessed the building for property tax and issued a demand notice in 2018, calling upon Madurai Multi Functional Complex Private Limited to pay half-yearly tax of Rs 10,07,623. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 오스템 임플란트 받아가세요 임플란터 더 알아보기 Undo Though a petition was filed challenging the demand notice, it was dismissed by the single judge. Therefore, Madurai Multi Functional Complex Private Limited (appellant) preferred the present appeal in 2020. A division bench of Justice G R Swaminathan and Justice M Jothiraman observed that the plain language of Article 285(1) of the Constitution indicates that the property of the Union shall be exempt from all taxes imposed by a state or by any authority within a state. "Article 285(1) stands as an iron dome which cannot be breached. Property of the Union of all kinds and hues can take shelter within it," the judges observed. The judges noted that RLDA is an alter-ego of the railways which cannot hold properties in its name. "Therefore, we hold that the petition mentioned building belongs to railways. The title over the building vests with the railways," they said. Hence, the judges held that the levy of property tax over the appellant-building would fall foul of Article 285(1) of the Constitution and set aside the order of the single bench. However, the judges made it clear that since the appellant is enjoying certain facilities offered by the Madurai corporation, it is open to the corporation to enter into a special agreement with the appellant to enable the petitioner to continue to enjoy those facilities. Since the appellant-building forms a class by itself, it is open to the corporation to charge a higher drainage tax. The corporation will issue notice to the appellant and other occupiers of the building to come for negotiation and enter into an appropriate agreement in this regard, the judges observed.

Time of India

2 hours ago

• Time of India

Tamil Nadu emerging as key contributor in manufacturing drones for the armed forces, and other electronic defence systems

The Union govt referred to Operation Sindoor, India's retaliatory strike to the Pahalgam terror attack, as a milestone in the nation's journey towards technological self-reliance in military operations — in drone warfare, layered air defence, and electronic warfare. The operation significantly boosted demand for drones manufactured by indigenous companies. Projections peg the size of the Indian drone market to hit $11 billion by 2030, accounting for 12.2% of the global drone market. The ban on imported drones and the launch of the PLI scheme for drones and drone components, notified by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Sept 30, 2021, with a total incentive of Rs 120 crore spread over three Financial Years (FYs), are laying the groundwork for India making huge strides in the drone ecosystem. Tamil Nadu is emerging as a key contributor in manufacturing drones for the armed forces, as well as building broader electronic defence systems, including UAV jammers and sophisticated payload delivery systems. The state has notable companies, both startups and veterans, such as Dhaksha, Garuda Aerospace, Zuppa Geo Navigation, ePlane company, Big Bang Boom, Data Patterns, all of which are building strategic UAVs and related technologies. Many of these firms, which had quietly developed defence-grade technologies over the years, are now seeing a surge in interest and keeping them busy with product demonstrations on field in crucial areas. Sai Pattabiram, founder and managing director of Zuppa, which is making small drones and autopilots, says they received 5X increase in order enquiries in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. "The way drones were predominantly considered as a tool for surveillance has now changed," he said. Zuppa works closely with the ministry of defence and army units to develop systems suitable for the specific terrains and mission conditions. Garuda Aerospace, traditionally known for agricultural drones, is focussing on defence applications in recent months. "We are developing eight different drone platforms and collaborating with global players such as Lockheed Martin and Thales," said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder and CEO. "We have participated in emergency procurement rounds and held about 40 field demonstrations. Our focus now is to design based on ground-level operational needs and co-develop with defence forces. " Tamil Nadu is not the only drone manufacturing hub in India. The drone ecosystem is spread in peninsular India, spanning Karnataka, Telangana, and Maharashtra, which benefit from the presence of public sector giants like HAL and DRDO. However, Tamil Nadu is attempting to close the gap. Since 2022, the state has ramped up its policy and infrastructure support for the sector. Wing Commander P Madhusoodhanan, vice president of Aerospace and Defence at TIDCO, and CEO of TN UAV corporation, said, "The drone industry is at an inflection point. With military procurement expanding, we expect greater scale and sustainability." The ministry of defence is setting up four UAV testing and certification facilities near Sriperumbudur, expected to be operational by year-end. He said that these centres are focused on unmanned systems, electronic warfare and electro-optics, among the few of their kind in India and will reduce the testing cost in the state and spearhead development. TN companies' role extends beyond making drones. Dr Shivaraman Ramaswamy, CTO of Big Bang Boom Solutions, which has artificial intelligence and EW capabilities, said demand for its anti-drone systems is rising. He further said the state has a suitable environment for manufacturing defence systems, with the advantage of using electronics manufacturing service and fabrication from engineering firms. The presence of one of the country's two defence corridors, expertise in auto, aerospace and electronics manufacturing, vibrant research by educational institutions such as MIT, IIT-M, huge capacity for training drone pilots and training the trainers puts TN in a sweet spot in defence drones. Yet, challenges persist. The lack of indigenous supply chains remains a concern. Executives TOI spoke to said the union govt should hold more consultation with the companies doing actual work and urged the state govt to facilitate consultation. Many press the need for handholding by armed forces in designing and developing the technologies as more important than subsidies.