Union Budget: Agro-chemistry agency requests tax returns for research spending

New Delhi:

CropLife India, a trade association of 16 agrichemical companies, has demanded that the government provide tax credits for research and development (R&D) spending in the upcoming budget.

CropLife India urged the government to “maintain a uniform basic customs duty of 10 percent for both technical raw materials and formulations”.

The association also demanded that the government give a 200 percent weighted deduction on R&D expenditures by agrochemical companies.

Durgesh Chandra, Secretary General of CropLife India, said, “To increase farmers’ incomes, agrarian reforms are urgently needed and the 2023-24 budget will be an imminent step”.

He proposed a 50 percent subsidy on local acquisition and maintenance costs of drones and their batteries/components.

“This will aid in the growth of the domestic drone sector and usher in faster adoption of this new and revolutionary technology,” the association said.

CropLife India is an association of 16 R&D driven crop protection member companies. Together they represent about 70 percent of the market and are responsible for 95 percent of the molecules introduced in the country. The association’s member companies have annual global R&D expenditures of $6 billion.

MK Dhanuka, general manager of Dhanuka Agritech, said: “We expect the government to take a stance on reducing customs duties on pesticide imports. This move will enable our farmers to buy pesticides at reasonable prices”.

KC Ravi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Syngenta India Pvt Ltd, said input costs in the agricultural sector have increased.

“Increased spending on PM-KISAN will also provide farmers with more liquidity to purchase inputs,” he added.

KC Ravi said the industry also expects the government to devise a special Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme for the agrichemical sector which will have a spiraling effect on boosting production in India, he added.

“The upcoming budget should look towards allocating resources to research and development activities to develop new, more effective and safer solutions to control pests, diseases and weeds for both chemical and biological streams. Different forms of incentive for the companies that are engaging in this R&D activity can be a motivating factor for them to invest more in the same,” said Rajesh Aggarwal, Managing Director, Insecticides India.

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