Punjab Ministry of Agriculture is reportedly considering inviting all approved tractor manufacturers to participate in the Green Tractor Scheme, after a number local tractor manufacturers protested to the provincial government, sources told Business Recorder.
Recently, Business Recorder had reported that only two leading local tractor manufacturers were being considered with whom the prices were being "negotiated", which brought to question the transparency of the scheme. One tractor manufacturer, who had quoted the lowest price, expressed inability to give any discount on the notified prices.
Of the only two invited, the one whose prices were much higher than the others, was given green signal, but the other interested suppliers continued to agitate. Now, with a more comprehensive list of approved manufacturers, the customers will have a much wider range of tractors available to choose from, and this would bring transparency into the transaction, commented one of the stakeholders.
Sources said that seven or eight companies, including importers, especially Belarus tractors, would now participate in the scheme with various price mixes for each model of tractors, and there would be intense competition for the 10,000 tractors which carry a subsidy of Rs 200,000 each.
Local tractor manufacturers are worried that with price of their inputs, such as electricity and especially steel rising on daily basis, it would be hard for them to maintain the current price. Importers of tractors worry about the worsening rupee-dollar parity. The consensus is that the previous Green Tractor Scheme, launched last year, was clean as well as transparent in contrast to the Benazir Tractor Scheme where allegations of commissions and bribe abound.