Mumbai, Nov 24 (PTI) The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday approved Rs 700 per quintal paddy procurement incentive support to farmers over and above the rates fixed by the Centre for the produce purchased under the MSP scheme during the 2020-21 kharif marketing season.

The decision, which was taken in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray here, will cost an additional Rs 1,400 crore to the state, an official statement said.

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The Centre has fixed Rs 1,868 per quintal MSP for common grade paddy, while for the graded one, it is Rs 1,888 per quintal.

"The decision (by the state cabinet) was taken as paddy cultivators are in trouble. The incentive support amount will be given only for the paddy purchased online," the statement said.

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It is estimated that 1.78 crore quintals of paddy will be purchased this year, it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)