Govt. may offer duty exemption for specialized farm equipment.

Government is planning to provide relief in the form of duty exemption for specialized farm equipment to increase the use of machinery and enhance productivity, reports agency sources.

``We are working on a proposal for exempting duty on certain specialized farm equipment so that the productivity goes up so that the food requirement for the growing population in the country is met,`` said A N Meshram, agriculture deputy secretary.

Import duty on farm equipment and machinery is around 25%, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

``India`s goal is to boost agricultural productivity to meet the food needs of a growing population and this is sought to be achieved through a wider availability of new machinery and technologies,`` said Amit Mitra, secretary general, FICCI.