United Progressive Alliance Govt. Increased Its Loan Waiver

The United Progressive Alliance government on Friday increased its loan waiver package by nearly 20 per cent to Rs. 71,680 crore to provide relief to ''big'' farmers, bringing them under the purview of the debt write-off scheme as proposed in the 2008-09 budget.

As per the expanded and modified scheme approved by the Cabinet, in keeping with demands from various quarters including Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, all farmers - small, marginal and big - in 237 identified dry, unirrigated and drought-prone districts in various States will get a minimum one-time debt relief of 25 per cent of their outstanding loan amount or Rs. 20,000, whichever is higher.

Briefing journalists, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram made it clear that the loans of small and marginal farmers would be completely waived, whether they were in the identified districts or other regions.

In view of the inclusion of big farmers in dry land areas holding larger acreage, the scheme would benefit more than four crore small, marginal and other large farmers and cost the exchequer Rs. 71,680 crore as per fresh estimates (unaudited), up from the original estimate of Rs. 60,000 crore, Mr. Chidambaram said.

"Small and marginal farmers will get full debt waiver, while 60-65 per cent of large farmers also get full debt waiver. This is why the cost of the scheme has increased."

The number of small and marginal farmers expected to benefit from the enlarged scheme stood revised to 3.69 crore against the earlier estimate of three crore, while the number of other farmers was scaled down to 59.75 lakh from one crore.

Rs 60,000 Cr Farmer Loan Waived | No Waiver For Vidarbha

New Delhi Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday announced a Rs 60,000-crore relief package for farmers, including complete waiver of loans given to small and marginal farmers.

Presenting his last Budget before the General Elections, Chidambaram announced waiver of Rs 50,000 crore worth of loans to small and marginal farmers and a settlement scheme for other farmers that would cost the exchequer another Rs 10,000 crore.

Loans for marginal farmers holding one hectare land and small farmers holding upto two hectares of land to be waived. Agriculture loans disbursed by rural banks, RRBs and Cooperative banks before March 2007 and overdue on December 2007 will also be waived.

Chidambaram said that according to estimates, three crore marginal and small farmers would benefit from the Government's amnesty.

Under the one-time settlement scheme that will benefit another one crore farmers, the Government will give a rebate of 25 per cent on payment of outstanding loans.

The agricultural credit of scheduled banks is estimated at Rs 2,40,000 crore in the current fiscal and it would go up to Rs 2,80,000 crore in 2008-09.

Implementation of debt waiver and debt relief will be completed by June 30 this year.

The Finance Minister has also announced agriculture credit target to be Rs 2,80,000 crore for 2008-09. The agriculture growth for whole year estimated at 2.6 per cent.

Chidambaram has announced Rs 644 crore for National Agriculture Insurance Scheme, which will be continued pending evolving an alternative crop insurance scheme.

Nabard Sanctions Rs 144.33 Cr Loan To Kerala

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has approved Rs 144.33 crore for 63 projects from its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund XIII (RIDF- XIII) to Kerala. This includes funding for the implementation of the Chamravattom multipurpose project, which would involve a loan of Rs 95.12 crore, by the water resources department in Malappuram district across Bharathapuzha river.

The project, on completion, is expected to benefit an area of 3,235 hectares ensuring availability of sufficient water for rice cultivation, controlling the intrusion of saline water into the upstream side of the regulator and ensuring availability of assured water for drinking purpose. As many as 16 villages, with a total population of around 43,000, are expected to get direct benefits. The project is also expected to reduce the distance between Kozhikode and Ernakulam by 40 km. The bank has also sanctioned an RIDF loan of Rs 35.44 crore for the construction of 13 rural roads, which include a tourism road, and three bridges.