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The West Bengal government has decided that farmers will not have to pay income tax on any agricultural product for the next two fiscal years, Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said Monday. The state government has also announced the withdrawal of two types of cess on raw tea leaves for the period. Presenting the Finance Bill in the assembly, Bhattacharya said the current exemption period for agricultural income tax ends on March 31. She also said that the state government has taken up a detailed and convenient scheme to resolve issues related to arrears of tax to facilitate sales tax payers. In her budget speech on February 15, Bhattacharya had said without imposing new taxes, income tax exemption on agricultural produce will be maintained. The West Bengal government has also decided to fill thousands of vacancies in several departments, including minorities and agriculture, official sources said.
Agritech startup DeHaat's revenue is likely to grow by over 80 per cent this fiscal to around Rs 2,300 crore on better sales of farm inputs to farmers and trading of agriculture produces in domestic and overseas markets, its CEO Shashank Kumar said. DeHaat will also hit positive EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) by the end of this calendar year, he highlighted. DeHaat is a technology-based business-to-farmers platform that offers a complete range of agricultural services to farmers. These include distribution of high-quality agricultural inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services and market linkages for selling their produce. DeHaat has so far raised USD 221 million from investors like Sofina, Lightrock, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Omnivore partners, and FMO. "Our turnover was around Rs 1,250 crore in the last fiscal. We are seeing significant growth in revenue this financial year and will touch around Rs 2,300
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said India has the potential to become number one in production of all commodities with the strength of its farmers and farm scientists. The minister was speaking after launching the National Food and Nutrition Campaign for farmers. The event was organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an official statement said. Tomar said the country has made great achievements in the field of foodgrains. "Our country is number one or two in the world in agriculture and allied products. Our farmers and scientists have so much power that if we compete in the world, we can be number one in almost all commodities," he said. The minister noted that the country has made tremendous progress in terms of production productivity. However, he said in the 75th year of independence, "we are standing at such a stage, where we have to introspect as well as consider the challenges and their solutions." Tomar said the ICAR has been
Lok Sabha member and AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel on Wednesday wrote a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, demanding that the prices of fertilisers be slashed. On Tuesday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had also written a letter to the Centre, requesting it to reconsider the price hike of fertilisers. In his letter, Jaleel, who represents Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency, said that farmers in Aurangabad district have to deal with the vagaries of nature, like drought, excess rains or unseasonal showers. In addition to that that, the district has been facing a serious pandemic situation. The farmers also have to face a rise in fertilizer prices. This hike has come at a time when the agriculture yield has come down, he said. Therefore, the government should curtail the prices of fertilizers and make the supply smooth by making it available in large quantities, the parliamentarian said in the letter.