News Analysis India

Tag: agriculture loans

  • Karnataka: CM Siddaramaiah asks banks not to adjust drought relief funds against farm loan dues

    Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday asked banks not to adjust drought relief funds the government has released to individual farmers through a direct benefit transfer (DBT) against the dues of their agriculture loans.

    The CM, who chaired a meeting of deputy commissioners and zilla panchayat CEOs in the presence of ministers and department secretaries, said officials must ensure farmers got loans for the oncoming crop season on time. The government had already sent this year’s agriculture credit plans, and officials must now act by coordinating with bankers in districts, he said.

    Siddaramaiah disapproved of the way insurance firms were handling the crop loss insurance claims. Such conduct would bring bad name to the government, he said, and asked officials to discuss with insurance firms and make life easy for farmers.The monsoon had begun, and the deputy commissioners could not pay attention to development activities as they were busy with the conduct of Lok Sabha election. The state had received higher than normal rainfall in May and sowing operations had also begun. The government has targeted sowing in 68,000 hectares of land. The code of conduct was still in force. In view of this, all officials must work in close coordination and attend to priority work.AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther States

  • Cabinet okays 1.5 per cent interest subvention on short-term agri loans of up to Rs 3 lakh

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an interest subvention of 1.5 per cent on short-term agriculture loans of up to Rs 3 lakh for all financial institutions, a move aimed at ensuring adequate credit flow in the farm sector.

    The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved restoring interest subvention on short-term agriculture loans of 1.5 per cent for all financial institutions, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said.

    The 1.5 per cent interest subvention will be provided to lending institutions (public and private sector banks, small finance banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and computerised Primary Agriculture Credit Societies) for the financial year 2022-23 to 2024-25 for providing short-term agri loans of up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers.

    “This increase in Interest Subvention support requires additional budgetary provisions of Rs 34,856 crore for the period of 2022-23 to 2024-25 under the scheme,” an official statement said.

    The increase in interest subvention will ensure the sustainability of credit flow in the agriculture sector as well as financial health and viability of the lending institutions.

    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an interest subvention of 1.5 per cent on short-term agriculture loans of up to Rs 3 lakh for all financial institutions, a move aimed at ensuring adequate credit flow in the farm sector.

    The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved restoring interest subvention on short-term agriculture loans of 1.5 per cent for all financial institutions, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said.

    The 1.5 per cent interest subvention will be provided to lending institutions (public and private sector banks, small finance banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and computerised Primary Agriculture Credit Societies) for the financial year 2022-23 to 2024-25 for providing short-term agri loans of up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers.

    “This increase in Interest Subvention support requires additional budgetary provisions of Rs 34,856 crore for the period of 2022-23 to 2024-25 under the scheme,” an official statement said.

    The increase in interest subvention will ensure the sustainability of credit flow in the agriculture sector as well as financial health and viability of the lending institutions.

  • Southern states top list of outstanding agriculture loans

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka amd Kerala lead the list of states where average amount of outstanding loan per agricultural household is high. While the national average of loan per agricultural household is Rs 74,121, the corresponding number in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala is Rs 2.45 lakh and Rs 2.42 lakh.

    An NSS report on ‘Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India, 2019’ showed that agricultural households in southern states have large amount of outstanding debt, compared with other big states. Average debt in Telangana and Karnataka is Rs 1.52 lakh and Rs 1.26 lakh, which is far more than the national average.

    On the other hand, average debt per agricultural households in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Bihar is Rs 51,107, Rs 74,420, Rs 82,085, Rs 26,452 and Rs 23,534, respectively. A look at the data discloses that southern states also have larger share of farmers in debt. For instance, percentage of indebted agricultural households in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is 93.2 and 91.7, as against the national average of 50.2%. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala also have higher number of indebted farmers —  65.1%, 67.6% and 69.9%.

    Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have 41.9% and 48.4% of indebted farmers which is below the national average. The report released by the ministry of statistics last week shows institutional sources alone could not meet the credit requirements of the farmers and a large number of households are still dependent on non-institutional sources for loans. These non-institutional sources include professional money lenders, landlords or agricultural money lenders, relatives and friends and chit-fund market commission agents.

    On the source of loans, the NSS report said nearly 69.6% of outstanding loans were taken from institutional sources like banks, cooperative societies and government agencies, while remaining 30.4% were from non-institutional sources. The report also discloses that a majority of farmers in the country have less than one hectare of land. 

    Source of loansThe NSS report said that nearly 69.6% of outstanding loans were taken from institutional sources like banks, cooperative societies and government agencies, while remaining 30.4% were from non-institutional sources.