States plough Rs 10 bn in subsidies to incentivise tractor sales this year

The subsidy offered varies from state to state, but it is significant in most cases

States are adding speed to tractor sales this year. Various state governments have lined up subsidy worth well over Rs10 billion to incentivise sale of tractors to farmers. It is estimated that states are offering subsidy on as many as 100,000 tractors in the ongoing financial year, the highest-ever number for a single financial year. This forms almost 12 per cent of the industry’s annual domestic sales.

In 2017-18, the subsidy was offered by state governments on approximately 68,000 tractors. This year’s number is a sharp increase of 47 per cent over the previous year. “The number of tractors