Having signed investment MoUs of over INR 15 lakh crore across sectors under the banner of ‘Rising Rajasthan’ Global Investment Summit 2024 so far, Rajasthan has now exchanged MoUs worth INR 19500 crore of investment in the Agriculture and allied sectors. The MoUs exchanged at the ‘Rising Rajasthan’ Agriculture Pre-Summit with over 862 investors, are in sectors ranging from Agriculture Marketing, Horticulture, Fisheries & Organic Farming to Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Cooperatives.
An agrarian state ranked number one in the production of crops such as mustard, jowar, oilseeds, the state also is among the most prominent producers of milk, millets, cereals, groundnut, soybean, grams and pulses among others. New investment in the agriculture and other allied sectors not only have the potential to create new jobs in the rural regions of the state but also help farmers get a fair price for their produce by facilitating the supply of the farm produce to the end-consumer. Additionally, industries such as food-processing and packaging industries help stabilize the supply-demand chain of perishable products and create large-scale employment opportunities.
With 5 Agro-Food Parks, 3 Agro-Processing Clusters, Rajasthan Agri Infra to give further fillip to private investment
In order to enhance the income of farmers and harness the bountiful agricultural produce, Rajasthan is developing a number of agro-food parks including in Jodhpur, Kota, Ganganagar, Alwar and most recently in Bikaner. Keeping food-processing as a primary focus, the government has also developed three agro processing clusters in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Tonk.
The recently signed investment MoUs in the sector should be seen in the context of the state government doing the heavy lifting of creating an extensive public infrastructure in the agriculture sector and offering a diverse range of financial incentives to the investors including small-scale industries and MSMEs.
The healthy mix of investment proposals received at the Agriculture-Pre Summit from sectors covering the entire spectrum of agriculture such as agricultural marketing, organic farming, horticulture, fisheries, animal husbandry and dairy among others seems to be a positive signal at this juncture for the agriculture sector in the state. It has the potential to not only provide new jobs to the youth but also enhance farmers’ income and promote the spirit of entrepreneurship at the local level.
