HIGHLIGHTS
- Telangana is set to spend Rs 32,000 crore on farm loan waiver this season — the highest-ever amount to be incurred on this count by any state in the country
- Though Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have given much higher estimated costs on loan waiver, their actual allocation has always been less, whereas Telangana’s estimated and actual costs have remained the same through successive years.
Some 42 lakh farmers are eligible for the waiver scheme in the state.HYDERABAD: Telangana is set to spend Rs 32,000 crore on farm loan waiver this season — the highest-ever amount to be incurred on this count by any state in the country. Though Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have given much higher estimated costs on loan waiver, their actual allocation has always been less, whereas Telangana’s estimated and actual costs have remained the same through successive years.
A recent report of the state-level bankers’ committee (SLBC) put Telangana’s estimated cost at Rs 32,000 crore, far above the 2014-2015 spending of Rs 17,000 crore on loan waivers.
Senior officials said the amount had shot up because more number of farmers had availed themselves of loans than last time as all political parties had announced loan-waiver schemes in their manifestos during the December 2018 Assembly elections in Telangana. “It’s a huge jump considering the last season spending of Rs 17,000 crore,” a senior official told TOI.
After SLBC gave the estimated cost (with the cut-off date for eligibility being December 11, 2018), officials are now mulling over implementing the waiver for small and marginal farmers who took loans of less than Rs 50,000 in one stroke. According to a senior official, 42 lakh farmers are eligible for the waiver scheme in the state.
source: Timesofindia
Link:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/telangana-to-spend-rs-32000-crore-on-farm-loan-waiver/articleshow/69657409.cms