Madhya Pradesh Cabinet reduced mandi fee on cotton to 0.5% and increased general fee to ₹1.50. The revised cost of Bhopal Metro was ₹10,033.62 crore and a guarantee of ₹8,600 crore for crop purchase was approved. Funds were also approved for IT development.
Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav took many important decisions for public welfare on June 9. Under his chairmanship, the Cabinet has taken a historic decision to reduce the market fee rate on cotton from 1% to 0.5% to give impetus to agriculture and trade. This will strengthen local ginning mills and increase employment. In the interest of farmers, the general market fee has been increased from Re 1 to Re 1 50 paise. The estimated additional income of Rs 500 crore received as fees will be directly used in the development of Farmer Road Fund and agricultural research. Major approval has also been given to provide free government guarantee of Rs 8,600 crore to MPSCSC and Markfed to ensure smooth procurement of crops in the upcoming Rabi and Kharif marketing seasons. These decisions will prove to be strong steps towards the economic and social progress of the state.
Bhopal Metro gets new speed
The Cabinet has approved the proposal of revised total cost of Rs 10,033.62 crore by adding additional cost of Rs 3,092.22 crore to the original cost of Bhopal Metro Rail Project of Rs 6,941.40 crore. The Cabinet has also approved additional funding of Rs 3,532 crore 22 lakh for the project as per accepted industry norms. This includes additional equity of Rs 995 crore 9 lakh by the Government of India and State Governments and additional subordinate loan of Rs 84 crore 54 lakh for central taxes, additional PTA-Internal loan of Rs 1,620 crore 64 lakh against loan funds from financing agency banks, additional subordinate loan of Rs 138 crore 38 lakh from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for cost of land and rehabilitation and resettlement and additional subordinate loan of Rs 446 crore from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for state taxes. This includes an additional grant of Rs 35 lakh and Rs 246 crore 41 lakh towards the cost of IDC.
Cabinet took many big decisions
- Approval of Rs 235 crore 63 lakh for IT cadre consultancy services and work. The Cabinet has approved Rs 235 crore 63 lakh for the continuous operation of grant and information technology related action plan for state IT cadre consultancy services under the Department of Science and Technology for the period from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031. As per the approval, Rs 180 crore 20 lakh has been approved for the grant scheme for state IT cadre consultancy services. Under the scheme, state level IT cadre has been formed to provide technical consultancy services to various departments, corporations, authorities and projects of the government. The grant received from the scheme is used for appointment of experts, training, capacity-development and consultancy services as per departmental needs. This scheme is currently a basic requirement of the digital transformation process of governance and in future will also prove to be extremely useful for strengthening the preparedness of the state in areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics, Block Chain Technology and Cyber Security.
- Rs 55 crore 43 lakh approved for action plan related to information technology. The Cabinet has approved Rs 55 crore 43 lakh for the action plan related to information technology. Under the scheme, VBTC Training Center will increase the technical efficiency and administrative efficiency of officers and employees by providing them regular training on IT, e-governance, cyber security and data management subjects. Effective implementation of various IT and e-governance projects will be ensured by providing grants-in-aid to nodal agencies like MPSEDC. Departmental capacity building and IT awareness will be promoted through workshops and seminars organized at the state, division and district level. Besides, innovations of departments and officers will be encouraged through ‘e-Governance Excellence Award’. Effective implementation of the scheme will help in establishing Madhya Pradesh as a leading state in the field of e-governance.
Great news given to farmers
Approval to reduce the rate of market fee on cotton from 1% to 0.5%. Keeping in view the need of cotton ginning mills, the Cabinet has approved to reduce the rate of market fee on cotton from 1% to 0.5%. There are about 158 cotton ginning mills in the state, whose processing capacity is about 13 lakh metric tons. Due to reduction in the rate of market fee on cotton in the state, ginning mills will be given priority to do business in the state instead of migrating to other neighboring states, which will increase employment and GST collection. Input costs of ginning mills will reduce and their economic viability will increase. They will be able to maintain their position in the competitive market.
Approval of providing free government guarantee of Rs 8,600 crore. It was decided by the Cabinet that for the continuation of the existing financial arrangements for borrowing funds from various banks (Scheduled/Nationalized/District Cooperative Central Bank), NABARD, and public financial institutions for the procurement of wheat in the upcoming Rabi marketing year 2026 and subsequent procurement of paddy and coarse grains in the Kharif marketing year 2026-27 and Keeping in mind the scenarios like repayment of food grain credit limit with higher interest rate in line with RBI requirement, MP State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. And Markfed has been approved to provide free government guarantee of Rs 8,600 crore for repayment of food grain credit limit of Reserve Bank of India from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. The right to reallocate the free government guarantee between MPSCSC and Markfed from time to time has been given to the Food Department of Madhya Pradesh Government. Apart from this, MP State Civil Supply Corporation Ltd. Free government guarantee of Rs 29,500 crore has been provided for the period from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 (one year). Apart from the amount available from the government guarantee, the remaining amount will be financed from the food grain credit limit provided to the state government by the RBI with higher interest rate.
- Decision to increase the market fee from Re 1 to Rs 1.50: The Cabinet has decided to increase the market fee from Re 1 to Rs 1.50. This amount will encourage cold storage, warehouse processing units and logistics facilities in the districts. Out of this fee amount, 50 paise will be used for the welfare of farmers as a part of Marketing Development Fund. Destitute fee will be kept at 20 paise. This increase is likely to generate additional income of approximately Rs 500 crore this year. This income will be used in Farmer Road Fund and agricultural research and infrastructure development. The share of Kisan Road Fund Rural Road Development Authority will be 20 paise, 10 paise for basic structures of Kisan Road Fund-Mandis, 12 paise for Cow Promotion and Protection Fund, 2 paise for Chief Minister Farmers Life Welfare Scheme, 1.75 paise for publicity and farmer conference and 4.25 paise will be used for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Infrastructure Development Fund.