(a) whether the Government are providing additional assistance to the
farmers for the payment of interest on short term agriculture loans;and
(b) if so, the number of beneficiaries, State-wise including Uttar Pradesh?
(a) whether the Government are providing additional assistance to the
farmers for the payment of interest on short term agriculture loans;and
(b) if so, the number of beneficiaries, State-wise including Uttar Pradesh?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)
(a) & (b): Consequent upon the Budget announcement for 2009-10, the Government of India
approved the Interest Subvention Scheme for Short Term Crop Loans to farmers for 2009-10.
Some of the salient stipulations of the scheme are:
(i) Interest subvention of 2% per annum is applicable to Public Sector Banks(PSBs),
Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks(RRBs) on their own funds used for short
term crop loans upto Rs.3,00,000/- per farmer provided the lending institutions lend
such loans @ 7% per annum.
(ii) An additional interest subvention @ 1% has been given to those prompt paying farmers
who repay their short term corp loans within the period of interest subvention i.e. within
one year of disbursement of such loans. This also implies that the prompt paying farmers
would now get short term crop loans @ 6% per annum during the year 2009-10. This benefit
would not accrue to those farmers who repay after one year of availing such loans.
(iii) Interest subvention is available to farmers from the date of disbursement till the date
of repayment, subject to a maximum period of one year.
As the Scheme is under implementation, the data of number of persons benefited during
the current year, State-wise is not available.