Reliance says it is not into corporate farming, does not exploit farmers

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Monday said it was not into contract farming and neither did it have any plans to enter contract farming or corporate farming.

In its statement, the oil-to-telecom-retail conglomerate said that it won’t purchase any agricultural land and it also doesn’t purchase foodgrain directly from farmers. The company also said that it has never bought agricultural land for corporate or contract farming.

RIL said that it has never entered into long-term procurement contracts at low prices and the company is committed to empowering and enriching farmers. It also noted that its suppliers are to buy from farmers only at the minimum support price (MSP).

The company said it has filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the recent acts of vandalism to protect its employees and property, adding that vested interests and business rivals are behind the vandalism.

The company’s statement comes days after reports of more than 1,500 telecom towers in Punjab were damaged by farmers protesting against the three farm laws, disrupting services in some pockets. According to the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA), a registered body of telecom infrastructure providers, at least 1,600 towers have been vandalised, news agency PTI reported.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh had on Friday appealed to protesting farmers to not cause inconvenience to the general public with such actions and continue to exercise the same restraint as they had shown over the past several months of their agitation.

Meanwhile, the state government is also investigating whether protesting farmers were disrupting power supply to hundreds of telecom towers, news agency Reuters reported.

Hundreds of farmers have been protesting at Delhi borders for over a month now against the three farm laws which they see would user in end to minimum support price (MSP) based procurement of farm produce like wheat and paddy. The government has denied the apprehensions, saying MSP will continue and the new laws only provide farmers with an alternative market to sell their produce.