The West Bengal Government has announced a transport subsidy of Rs 11 crore for inter-State transport of potatoes as well as export to other countries.
West Bengal's potato production almost doubled to 95 lakh tonnes this year, against just about 55 lakh tonnes in 2009. The production is much above the average annual yield of about 80-85 lakh tonnes in earlier years. The State Government announced the transport subsidy to tackle the glut situation.
West Bengal is the second largest producer of potatoes, next to Uttar Pradesh, and accounts for almost 33-34 per cent of the total potato production in India.
The government has announced a transport subsidy of Rs 20/quintal or 20 per cent of the transport cost, whichever is less, to encourage inter-state transport of potatoes and also to countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
The State Government has also granted subsidy of Rs 3 a kg for usage of refrigerated containers and Rs 2 a kg for non-refrigerated containers in case of export to countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, according to Mr Gopal Mondal, advisor to the West Bengal Progressive Potato Traders Association.
