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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of raw jute to ₹3,700 per quintal for the current fiscal, from ₹3,500 per quintal in the previous year.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The increased MSP is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.
The CCEA also gave its nod to the recently restructured National Bamboo Mission, for which ₹1,290 crore was allocated in the Union Budget, for the remaining period of the 14th Finance Commission, an official statement said here.
The mission envisages the holistic development of the bamboo sector by effectively linking bamboo farmers to industry and also local artisans who make products based on bamboo.
Under the mission, the government plans to bring additional 1 lakh hectares under bamboo cultivation by allowing bamboo to be grown in non-forest as well as private land. The bamboo mission, first launched in 2006-07, has so for covered 3.62 lakh hectares in cultivation, set up 39 bamboo wholesale markets and 40 bamboo bazaars, but still has a lot of scope for further expansion as an industry, the statement said.
In another major decision, the Cabinet extended long-term agreement for supply of iron ore to Japan and South Korea for another five years. While the quantity of iron ore exported to Japanese steel makers would be in the range of 3-4 million tonnes per annum, their counterparts in South Korea would be supplied anywhere between 8,00,000 tonne to 1.2 million tonne a year, the statement said. The exports will be carried out through MMTC Ltd.
It also approved the declaration of scheduled areas in many districts in Rajasthan which have sizable population of Scheduled Tribes (STs). This would help the STs residing in Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, and partial areas of Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Pali and Sirohi districts to get benefits of protective measures available under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
Among other decisions taken by the Cabinet were the cooperation in regulating medical products amongst BRICS countries, a memorandum of agreement with the World Health Organisation and bilateral treaties with countries Sao Tome and Principe for cooperation in traditional systems of medicine and homoeopathy.
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