An agriculture ministry notification issued last week said the maximum sale price of BG-II Bt cotton will be Rs800 per 450gm packet of seeds
New Delhi: After a reduction in the retail price and royalty fees of genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton seeds last year, the agriculture ministry has kept prices unchanged for the upcoming Kharif crop season.
According to a notification issued by the farm ministry on 10 March, maximum sale price of BG-II Bt cotton will be Rs800 per 450gm packet of seeds. This includes a trait or royalty fee of Rs49 per packet which domestic seed companies will pay to the technology developer.
The decision follows a series of consultation with stakeholders where some representatives of the seed industry wanted the retail price to be raised by Rs50 per packet due to increasing costs of production, while others asked for raising royalty fees.
“The ministry did not reduce royalties any further as that would dampen the interests of multinational technology providers and lead to further litigation,” said an industry official aware of the developments.
Last year, a nine-member committee constituted by the agriculture ministry to recommend cotton seed prices slashed prices to Rs800 per packet—compared to Rs830-1,000 charged earlier—and cut royalty fees sharply by 74%, from Rs163 per packet to Rs43 (excluding taxes).
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