India on Wednesday raised the government-mandated price for summer-sown crops such as rice and cotton by the most since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, as he looks to woo millions of poor farmers ahead of a general election next year.

The country announces support prices for more than a dozen crops each year to set a benchmark. But analysts say the median hike this year was 25 percent compared with 3-4 percent in the last three years, which could hit government finances and stoke inflation.

 “The government is committed to realising the vision of doubling farmers' income by 2022, towards which it is working on a comprehensive strategy,” Radha Mohan Singh, the minister for agriculture and farmers' welfare, said in a statement after a meeting of Modi's cabinet.

Rural India voted overwhelmingly for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party four years ago to hand him the biggest mandate in 30 years. But a crash in commodity prices has meant his immense popularity in the countryside has waned over the past few months.