The commerce ministry has approved the pilot Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation Crops for protecting the growers from the risks such as yield loss, pest attacks and income decline caused by fall in prices, Parliament was informed today. The Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) Scheme, 2003 was closed on September 30, 2013 and Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation Crops (RISPC) is an improved form of the PSF, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. She said that RISPC was approved on September 16 last year and will be implemented on a pilot basis for two years covering tea, coffee, rubber, cardamom and tobacco in eight districts in West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu by the commodity boards. "Department of Commerce has recently approved the pilot RISPC for protecting growers of plantation crops from the twin risks of yield loss due to adverse weather parameters, pest attacks etc and income loss caused by fall in international/domestic prices," she said. On the basis of performance of the pilot project, the minister said, the scheme will be considered for extension to other districts. Replying to a separate question on industrial corridors, Sitharaman said as per the institutional and financial framework for the development of these corridors approved by the government, land acquisition/ pooling/ procurement and making it available for projects is the responsibility of the concerned state. Citing example of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, the minister said for the Ahmedabad Dholera Special Investment Region in Gujarat, 1706.13 hectares of land has been transferred by the state to Dholera Industrial City Development Ltd. For the Visakhapatnam Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), the land under possession is 1,887 acres and the land under acquisition/alienation is about 24,056 acres, she added. Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com