Modi U-turns on Indian farm laws after mass protests

India will scrap three agricultural reform laws that sparked almost a year of huge protests by farmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday in a stunning and rare U-turn by his Hindu nationalist government.

Thousands of farmers have been camped out on the borders of the capital New Delhi since November last year, posing Modi with one of the biggest challenges since he came to power in 2014.

The rallies became a lightning rod for opposition to Modi's administration in a country where two-thirds of the 1.3 billion population rely on agriculture for their livelihood.

In a contrite address to the nation coinciding with a major Sikh festival -- the religion of many farmers -- Modi said the laws would be repealed in parliament's winter session, which begins later this month.

"I appeal to all the farmers who are part of the protest... to now return to your home, to your loved ones, to your farms, and family. Let's make a fresh start and move forward," the 71-year-old said.

"Friends, I apologise to the countrymen and want to say with a clean heart and conscience that we must have fallen short in our efforts to explain (the benefits of the farm laws) to a section of the farmers."

The reforms passed in September 2020 aimed to deregulate farm produce markets where state bodies have for decades set guaranteed minimum prices for crops. 

Modi's government had said the changes would boost rural incomes and reform a hugely inefficient agricultural sector where vast amounts of products rot before they can be sold.