In the second phase of Telangana’s ongoing crop loan waiver scheme, ₹6,198 crore was released cumulatively, benefiting about 6.4 lakh farmers with debts of up to ₹1.5 lakh each.

Early this month, the Congress government kicked off the scheme by releasing ₹6,098 crore, benefiting about 11.5 lakh farmers with outstanding loans of up to ₹1 lakh each.

“We are going to complete the remainder of the outstanding crop loans up to ₹2 lakh in August. We would have paid to the banks ₹31,000 crore by August-end, making it the biggest waiver scheme in the country so far,” Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said on Tuesday.

‘Not seeking one-time settlement’

Addressing a group of farmers on the Assembly premises after formally kicking off the second phase of disbursals, he said the government had not asked for a one-time settlement on behalf of the farmers.

“After defaulting their repayment schedules, corporates would ask for one-time settlements, asking the banks to reduce the amount to pay. But we have decided not to ask for such reductions and are paying them in full,” he said.

He alleged that corporates and other business houses take huge bank loans and try to evade repaying them, citing losses. “Some even do that deliberately, intending to cheat,” he said.

“Farmers are resorting to suicides after suffering losses. They take loans from banks and private lenders for agricultural operations but are ending up in huge debts,” he said.

Poll promise

The loan waiver is one of the key promises made by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Alleging that the erstwhile BRS government put a heavy debt burden on the State, the Chief Minister said the Congress government had to pay ₹43,000 crore towards interest repayments in the last eight months.

During the Lok Sabha election campaign, Reddy had asserted that the government would complete the disbursals by August 15.

Call for palm oil cultivation

Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said the State has huge potential in the oil palm sector.

“The country is spending over ₹1 lakh crore to procure edible oil. We have a huge potential to meet the demand,” he said.

He appealed to farmers to increase the acreage to 10 lakh in the next few years to help address the domestic demand.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said the state government would pay a premium of ₹1,350 crore towards crop insurance and ₹1,580 crore for Rythu Bima (life insurance) scheme for about 42 lakh farmers.

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