Rs 9,000-crore allocation for crop insurance in 2017-18

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the allocation for crop insurance has been increased to Rs 9,000 crore for the 2017-18 fiscal.

Presenting the 2017-18 Budget in the Lok Sabha, he said the Fasal Bima Yojana or crop insurance scheme launched by the central government had enabled the famers to feel secure against natural calamities.

"The Budget provision of Rs 5,500 crore for this Yojana in Budget Estates 2016-17 was increased to Rs 13,240 crore in the Revised Estimates for 2016-17 to settle the arrear claims. For 2017-18, I have provided Rs 9,000 crore," Jaitley said.

According to him, the coverage of this scheme will be increased from 30 per cent of cropped area in 2016-17 to 40 per cent in 2017-18 and 50 per cent in 2018-19.

"The sum insured under this scheme has more than doubled from Rs 69,000 crore in Kharif 2015 to Rs 1,41,625 crore in Kharif 2016," Jaitley said.

Incidentally, crop insurance is a major growth driver for the general insurance industry in the current fiscal.