WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/N/IND/1
17 June 1998
(98-2477)
Committee on Agriculture Original: English
NOTIFICATION
The attached notification concerning domestic support commitments for marketing
year 1995-96 (Table DS:1 and the relevant Supporting Tables) was received from the delegation of
India on 28 May 1998.
_______________G/AG/N/IND/1
Page 2
India does not provide any product-specific support other than market price support.  There is,
therefore, no information to be given relating to e quivalent commitments, direct payments.  In 1995-96,
as also during the reference period, India had mark et price support programm es for 22 products, out of
which 19 are included in the list.  Three relatively minor crops viz. ragi, safflower, and sunflower seed
are not included in the list, as due to inadequacy of data it has not been possible to calculate the relevant
product-specific support.
Supporting Tables DS:1 and DS:2 enumerate the policy measures which are exempt from
reduction commitments.
In Supporting Table DS:1, with respect to measur e types (b) and (c), it is stated that the
operations of Food Corporation of India encompass th ree functions viz. purchase at support price, public
stockholding for food security purposes and sale to  the consumer through the distribution system at
prices below the market price.  In addition certain state governments have programmes for sale of food
at concessional prices to lower income groups.  The price support operation has already been taken into
consideration while calculating the product-specific AMS price support in Supporting Table DS:5.  The
total cost of buffer stocking and consumer subsid y incurred by the Food Corporation of India averaged
Rs. 50,500 million during the reference years.
Concessional sales through the Public Distri bution System and other schemes for sale at
subsidised prices with the objective of meeting basic food requirements as a social safety net are in
conformity with the provisions of paragraph 4 of Annex 2 and the footnote to the Agreement.
There is no significant domestic food aid progra mme in the sense of food being supplied free of
cost or grants being given to enable purchase of food.  Such aid is given in the event of natural disasters
during relief operations.
In Supporting Table DS:9, showing the estimation of generally available input subsidies, no
account has been taken of the exemption of input s ubsidies to low income and resource poor farmers in
developing countries in terms of Article 6.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture.  In India, operational land
holdings of 10 hectares or less accounted for 79.5 per cent of agricultural land.  If farmers holding less
than 10 hectares of land are considered to be res ource poor or low income, almost 80 per cent of the
input subsidies will qualify for exempti on from inclusion in non-product-specific AMS.
The financial year in India beings on 1 April and ends on 31 March of the subsequent year and
corresponds basically to the marketing year.  The fi gures given in the lists of commitments correspond
to the marketing year 1995-96.G/AG/N/IND/1
Page 3Supporting Table DS:1
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  India
REPORTING PERIOD:  Marketing year 1995-96
Measures exempt from reduc tion commitment - "Green Box"
Measure type Name and description of measure with reference to criteria in Annex 2 Monetary value of
measures in year in
question
US$ millionData sources
12 3 4
(a) General services (i) Research 162.965
(ii) Pest and disease control 8.243
(iii) Training services 4.709
(iv) Extension and advisory services -(v) Command area development programme 12.079
(vi) Marketing and promotion services 104.820
(vii) Inspection services n.a.(viii) Provision for livestock health facilities 104.79
(ix) Infrastructural services 0.033
(b)  Public stockholding for food security purposes (i) Buffer stock operations 1,569.65 Report by Bureau of Industrial
Costs and Prices on the operationof Food Corporation of India.
Government of India publication.
(c) Domestic food aid n.a.
(d)  Income insurance (i) Crop insurance scheme 10.883
(e) Relief from natural disasters (i) Scarcity relief and natural calamities 125.034(f) Structural adjustment assistance provided through
investment aids(i) Dry land farming 56.208
(ii) Scheme for reclamation of alkaline soils 2.99
(iii) Drought-prone area programme n.a.G/AG/N/IND/1
Page 412 3 4
(g) Payment under environmental programmes (i) Soil conservation in catchment areas of river valley projects 19.46
(ii) Integrated watershed management in the catchment areas of flood prone
rivers in the Indo-Gangetic basin8.97
(iii) Fodder grassland and pasture development n.a.
(iv) Desert development programmes n.a.
           (v) Control of shifting cultivation 4.78
Data in US$ million.
Exchange rate:  US$1 = Re 33.447 (1995-96).G/AG/N/IND/1
Page 5Supporting Table DS:2
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  India
REPORTING PERIOD:  Marketing year 1995-96
Measures exempt from the reduction commitment - Special and Differential Treatment - "Devel opment Programmes"
Measure type Name and description of measure with reference to criteria in Article 6:2 Monetary value of
measure in year in
question
US$ millionData sources
1 23 4
(a) Investment subsidies generally
available to agriculture(i) On farm development work (field channels, land levelling, shallow wells, etc.) 104.82 Budget 1995-96
(ii) Subsidies for asset formation (provision of milch animals, farm implements to resource poor farmers, etc.
under certain schemes)
(b) Agricultural input subsidies to
low income or resource poor
producers(i) Small farmer development assistance
(ii) Assistance to smallholders for easy access to inputs149.49
-Budget 1995-96
Exchange rate: US$1 = Re 33.447 (1995-96).G/AG/N/IND/1
Page 6Supporting Table DS:3
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  India
REPORTING PERIOD:  Marketing year 1995-96
Measures exempt from the reduc tion commitment - Direct Payments under Production-Limiting Progr ammes - "Exempt Direct Payments"
Measure type Name and description of measure with reference to criteria in Article 6:5 Monetary value of
measure in year in
questionData sources
1 23 4
(a) Payments based on fixed area and
fieldsIndia does not give any direct payments under production-limiting programmes
(b) Payments based on 85% or less of
the base level of production
(c) Livestock payments made on
fixed number of headG/AG/N/IND/1
Page 7Supporting Table DS:5
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  India
REPORTING PERIOD: Ma rketing Year 1995-96
Product-Specific Aggregate Measuremen ts of Support:  Market Price Support
Description of basic
productsMarketing year April-
March 1995-96Measure type(s) Applied administered price
US$/tonneExternal reference
price1US$/tonneEligible production
million tonnes
(target)Associated fees/levies Total market
price
support2
million US$Data sources
123 4 56 7 8
((4-5*6)-79
Rice 168.923262.51 80.96 -7,577 Economic
Survey
1995-96
Wheat 113.61 264 64 -9,625
Coarse cereals
(bajra, jawar, maize
and barley)89.69 238.57 30.43 -4,530
Pulses (gram, urad,
moong and tur)231.71 345.66 14.97 -1,706
Groundnut 269.08 514.58 7.37 -1,809
Rapeseed and
mustard toria257.12 513.37 6.59 -1,689
Cotton 343.83 1,292.64 2.22 -2,106
Soya bean 191.35 229.77 4.99 -192Tobacco 605.43 912.82 0.59 (94-95) -181
Jute 146.50 417.55 1.43 -388
Sugar cane 12.70 11.64 174 184
1ERPs are at the average exchange rate prevalent in the base period.
2Support for each of the listed products is below the relevant "product-specific" de minimis  level (Article 6.4(b) refers).
3Applied administered price is procurement price for common paddy.  (For converting to the equivalent price of rice a coefficien t of 1.5 has been used.)
Exchange rate US$ to Re: 1995-96 = 33.447
1986-89 Average = 13.409G/AG/N/IND/1
Page 8Supporting Table DS:6
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  India
REPORTING PERIOD:  Marketing Year 1995-96
Product-Specific Aggregate Measurements of  Support:  Non-Exempt Direct Payments
Description of
basic productCalendar /
marketing year
beginning ...Measure type(s) Applied
administered
priceExternal
reference price
(generally from
AGST/...)Eligible
productionTotal price-
related direct
paymentsOther non-
exempt direct
paymentsAssociated
fees/leviesTotal direct
paymentsData
sources
12 3 456 7
((4-5)*6)89 10
(7+8-9)11
India does not give any direct payments to the farmers .G/AG/N/IND/1
Page 9Supporting Table DS:9
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  India
REPORTING PERIOD:  Marketing year 1995-96
Non-Product-Specific AMS
Measure type(s) Marketing year
beginning ...Non-product-specific
budgetary outlaysOther non-product-specific
support (include
calculation details)Associated fees/levies Total non-product-specific
supportData sources
12 3 4 5 6
(3+4-5)7
Fertilizer subsidy 1995-96 1,864.14 - - 1,864.14 Budget 1996-97
Credit subsidy 1994-95 101.95 - - 101.95
Subsidy on electricity 1995-96 2,436.64 - - 2,436.64 Annual report on Working of
State Electricity DepartmentPlanning Commission
Government of India - 1995
Irrigation subsidy 1995-96 1,345.41
1- - 1,345.41 Central Statistical Office
Subsidy on average supply
of seeds1995-96 23.92 - - 23.92 Budget 1995-96
TOTAL 5,772.062
Note:  Data in US$ million.
1Provisionally estimated.
2Total non-product-specific support in 1995-96 represents 7.52 per cent of the corresponding total value of Indian agricultural production (US$ million 76,736) and is accordingly below the relevant "non-product-
specific" de minimis  level (Article 6.4(b) refers).
Source:  Advance Estimates by Central Statistical Office.
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