India approves MSP buying of pulses and oilseeds in three states
New Delhi has widened minimum support price procurement for safflower, gram, lentils and mustard across Karnataka, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
India has approved new minimum support price procurement operations for pulses and oilseeds in Karnataka, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, extending the state's role as a buyer of last resort in the rabi marketing season. The Hindu BusinessLine reports that Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan cleared the proposals under the price support framework.
For Karnataka, the Centre approved safflower procurement for the 2025-26 rabi season. The sanctioned quantity is 6,923 tonnes, equal to 25 per cent of the quantity proposed by the state, and the minimum support price for kusum or safflower was fixed at 65,400 rupees per tonne. The official statement said the approved procurement carries a total MSP value of 45.27 crore rupees.
The Haryana package is much larger. Chauhan approved procurement of 13,082 tonnes of gram and 360,528 tonnes of mustard at MSP for the 2026 rabi season. The purchases will be made under the Price Support Scheme, and the statement said the combined MSP value of those approvals is more than 2,312.12 crore rupees, a level intended to ensure remunerative prices for growers.
Uttar Pradesh also received approval for extensive procurement. The state can buy 224,000 tonnes of gram at MSP, representing procurement worth 1,316 crore rupees. It was also cleared to buy 677,000 tonnes of masoor valued at 4,739 crore rupees at 70,000 rupees per metric tonne, along with 530,000 tonnes of mustard carrying an MSP value of 3,286 crore rupees at 62,000 rupees per metric tonne.
Taken together, the decisions show how heavily farm income support in India still relies on public procurement when market returns are uncertain. By moving ahead with safflower, gram, lentils and mustard purchases across three states, the central government is signalling that it wants farmers entering the new marketing cycle to see official price support translated into actual buying operations rather than remaining only a paper guarantee.