The Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme for the Plantation crops, namely Tea, Coffee and Rubber was set up in 2003 with the objective of providing financial relief to growers on account of fall in the prices of commodities below a specified level. Under the scheme, growers are entitled for financial assistance at the rate of Rs.  one thousand only when average annual domestic price falls below twenty per cent of seven years moving average of international price. The Scheme is based on contribution from the growers and the Government in varying proportions ranging from Rs. five hundred to Rs. one thousand depending on the year in question being a normal year, distress year or boom year.

The Corpus of Price Stabilisation Fund consists of one time contribution of ₹ 435.55 crores received from the government and the growers and stands at ₹ 918.10 crores as on 31.03.2014. The details of year wise expenditure on account of the schemes implemented from the Price Stabilisation Fund are given below

(Rs.in thousands only)

Year	Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF)	Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS)	Total
2011-12	40.5	665.0	705.5
2012-13	266.5	1114.4	1380.9
2013-14	1.50	120.0	121.5
Total	308.5	1899.4	2207.9

 Total cumulative expenditure on account of the above mentioned schemes since inception of the Fund is ₹ 1.53 crores.

A Price Stabilization Fund for agricultural commodities has been announced in the Union Budget 2014-15 with a view to mitigate volatility in the prices of agricultural produce.

The Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) Scheme is regularly reviewed with a view to address the identified bottlenecks of the Scheme  and to increase its effectiveness in dealing with the price risk faced by growers. Discussion on evolving a Comprehensive insurance based scheme in this regard with various stakeholders is underway.

The information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Price Stabilisation Fund provides grower relief when domestic prices fall below a set international-price linked threshold under a contribution-based scheme. The Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme is a contribution-based mechanism to provide fixed financial assistance to plantation crop growers when average domestic prices fall below twenty per cent of the seven-year moving average of international prices; contribution shares vary by year type between growers and government. The Fund corpus, formed from one-time government and grower contributions, has financed targeted interventions and a Personal Accident Insurance Scheme. The Scheme is regularly reviewed to address implementation bottlenecks and discussions with stakeholders are underway to develop a comprehensive insurance-based approach to manage price risk.