Watch This Eye-Opening Session On How Government Policies Impact Indian Farmers' Income

At the #BudgetRoundTable2024 conference, Siddharth Zarabi, Managing Editor at BTTV, held an insightful conversation with Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor at ICRIER. Professor Gulati underscored the detrimental impact of politically controlling food prices over allowing price volatility. He critiques the impact of government policies on Indian farmers, highlighting that politically controlled food prices, export bans, and unaltered fertilizer prices result in substantial financial losses and indirect taxing of farmers. The conversation sheds light on counterproductive subsidies and restrictive policies adversely affecting India's agricultural community. He questioned the relevance of the 2011 Food Weight Index. Notably, India's ban on wheat exports in May 2022 led to a direct loss of ₹40,000 crores for wheat farmers after shifting market controls. He also highlighted the stagnant prices of urea and other fertilizers, which have not been revised for over 12 years despite ongoing subsidies. The OECD has reported that Indian farmers are net-taxed.