In a major concession to the farmers’ lobby, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Maharashtra on Sunday announced a sweeping farm loan waiver with certain conditions to ensure the scheme benefits only marginal farmers and “genuine farmers” who have been paying off their loans.
Maharashtra is the only state that has agreed to give a total farm loan waiver.
The government waived the farm loans of marginal farmers - 3.1 million out of the total 13.6 million registered farmers - with immediate effect. While the farm loan waiver for marginal farmers will cost around Rs.30,500 crore, the cost of the total farm loan waiver is not known. Last week, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced loan waiver for marginal farmers but ruled out a blanket waiver on the grounds that it would cost the government “an unaffordable Rs.1.14 trillion”. Read More
Maharashtra is the only state that has agreed to give a total farm loan waiver.
The government waived the farm loans of marginal farmers - 3.1 million out of the total 13.6 million registered farmers - with immediate effect. While the farm loan waiver for marginal farmers will cost around Rs.30,500 crore, the cost of the total farm loan waiver is not known. Last week, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced loan waiver for marginal farmers but ruled out a blanket waiver on the grounds that it would cost the government “an unaffordable Rs.1.14 trillion”. Read More