Indian greenhouse growers cry for subsidy
The Times of India reports: "Despite claiming that its revenues are on the upswing, the state government, for reasons best known to itself, has not released a single rupee in the current financial year towards subsidies for construction of polyhouses, otherwise referred to as greenhouses. Incidentally, last year during the 2015-16 financial year, the government, against an allocation of Rs 200 crore [30 million USD] towards these subsidies, released only Rs 58 crore [8.7 million USD]. As a consequence, even as farmers are waiting for the government's promised subsidy to clear their bills, companies approved by the government to construct polyhouses, are learnt to have stopped their activity."
Sources said polyhouse cultivation involves huge expenditure and farmers cannot go ahead with cultivation unless the government releases the subsidy. "For a 1,000 square metre polyhouse, the cost comes to about Rs 9.84 lakh [15,000 USD] and for an acre (4,000 sq metres) a farmer has to spend over Rs 40 lakh [60,000 USD]. Power distribution companies have been charging commercial tariff for power bills in all districts except Medak, which is an additional burden on the farmers," a polyhouse cultivator said.
Read more at the Times of India