930,000 farmers to begin getting loan waiver benefit from Tuesday

The waiver of over ₹41,268 crore for 5.45 million farmers was announced last month. Of these, 2.8 million farmers have outstanding crop loans of up to ₹2 lakh and are eligible for a full waiver

MUMBAI: Although around 40% of 1.69 million farmers in the first list of beneficiaries of the government’s farm loan waiver are yet to complete their e-KYC process, the government will begin disbursing the waiver money to over 930,000 eligible farmers from Tuesday. Around 94,083 farmers have been found ineligible as they are income-tax payers.

CM Devendra Fadnavis will launch the first tranche of the loan waiver on Tuesday, officials said (@CMOMaharashtra)

The waiver of over ₹41,268 crore for 5.45 million farmers was announced last month. Of these, 2.8 million farmers have outstanding crop loans of up to ₹2 lakh and are eligible for a full waiver. Another 2,90,000 farmers have outstanding loans exceeding ₹2 lakh and will be eligible for a one-time settlement (OTS) after repaying the balance amount. Additionally, 2.36 million farmers who have regularly repaid their crop loans will receive an incentive of ₹50,000 each.

“CM Devendra Fadnavis will launch the first tranche of the loan waiver on Tuesday,” said a senior cooperation department official. “The total amount for the eligible farmers is ₹13,336 crore, with the first tranche expected to be over ₹6,000 crore for 9,30,000 eligible farmers who have completed their e-KYC. The remaining 40% will receive the benefit after completing theirs.”

The second phase will cover around 2,90,000 farmers with outstanding loans exceeding ₹2 lakh. “They will become eligible for a waiver of up to ₹2 lakh after repaying the remaining amount,” said another official. “The estimated outgo for this category is ₹5,798 crore. Apart from this, 2.36 million farmers who repaid their loans in at least three of the last four years will get ₹50,000 as an incentive. The total financial implication of this incentive is estimated at ₹10,225 crore.”

Agriculture minister Dattatray Bharne urged eligible farmers to complete their e-KYC without delay. “As of today, around 9,30,000 farmers have completed the process, and we urge the remaining eligible farmers to do so at the earliest,” he said. “We are committed to ensuring that every eligible farmer receives their benefits.”

Agriculture department officials revealed that the Praveen Pardeshi Committee had recommended excluding farmers who had benefited from the 2019 farm loan waiver. “The objective was to discourage repeated dependence on loan waivers and to maintain the health of the banking credit system,” said an official. “However, the government realised the political implications of this. Initially, it decided to give them an incentive of ₹50,000 but after drawing criticism, extended the waiver benefit of up to ₹2 lakh to them as well.”