Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay on Monday announced a complete waiver of crop loans up to Rs 75,000 taken through cooperative banks.
The government had earlier issued a crop-loan waiver with full relief up to Rs 50,000 and graded concessions for higher outstanding amounts. Farmer groups and political parties had since demanded a full waiver in line with the promise, citing shortcomings in the earlier announcement.
In a statement released today, the state said the 100% waiver will apply to marginal, small and other large farmers who borrowed up to Rs 75,000 through cooperative banks. It added that loans taken from May last year to February this year covered 14.43 lakh farmers, with the waiver estimated at up to Rs 6,000 crore.
The government said the benefit for farmers who took crop loans in the last financial year would range from a minimum of Rs 35,000 to a maximum of Rs 75,000. It said the move would significantly help farmers seeking fresh credit for the upcoming cultivation season.
Break-up of the estimated waiver includes Rs 3,599.67 crore for 8,33,773 marginal farmers, Rs 1,995.42 crore for 5,16,183 small farmers, and Rs 337.15 crore for 93,548 other large farmers. Overall, the projected waiver for 14,43,504 farmers is Rs 5,932.23 crore, the statement said.
