Rs 13,497 crore loan waiver in Maharashtra: Nabard

A report prepared by the National Bank for Agiculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has estimated that more than 57 lakh farmers in Maharashtra are expected to benefit from the loan waiver and one time settlement (OTS) scheme and that would be worth Rs 13,497 crore.

These estimates are expected to grow by atleast Rs 2,000 crore as this calculation does not account agricultural laons taken from nationalised banks.

NABARD officials announced this report in Pune on Thursday. The Central government has announced a complete loan waiver package for farmers holding less than 5 acre land.

An OTS scheme has also been announced to write-off 25 per cent of the loan amount for farmers holding more than 5 acre land.

A survey conducted by NABARD in Maharashtra suggests that 34 lakh marginalised farmers would get the full loan waiver amounting to Rs 7,891 crore. The government will have to spend Rs 5,606 crore to benefit around 23 lakh farmers through the OTS scheme. "We have so far calculated loans given by the regional rural banks and district co-operative banks. The loans disbursed by the nationalised banks are yet to be considered and the amount would be close to Rs 2,000 crore," a NABARD official stated.

The final amount would soon be formulated and the farmes would get the actual benefits by the end of June this year.