Mumbai, March 6 (IANS) The Mahayuti government on Friday announced loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh for farmers, fulfilling the promise made during the 2024 Assembly elections.

While presenting the state Budget in the Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the ‘Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karjmafi Yojana’ for farmers with overdue crop loans as of September 30, 2025.

Under this scheme, eligible farmers will receive a loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh.

Additionally, an incentive grant of up to Rs 50,000 has been announced for farmers who repay their loans regularly. This waiver is expected to provide significant relief to millions of farmers across the state.

The state government had promised to implement a loan waiver scheme during the Assembly election period. However, due to delays in implementation, a major protest was held in Nagpur in October 2025 under the leadership of Bacchu Kadu, President of the Prahar Janshakti Party, demanding that the government announce a specific date for the waiver.

Subsequently, in a meeting organised by the government in Mumbai, farm leaders, including Bacchu Kadu, Raju Shetti, and Ajit Nawale, were assured that a waiver would be declared by June 30, 2026.

A committee chaired by Dr Praveen Pardeshi was formed to study the implementation.

The state government has now taken this decision based on the recommendations of this committee.

Chief Minister Fadnavis indicated that the government is also focusing on long-term measures to ensure farmers do not fall back into debt cycles.

Recommendations from the Pardeshi Committee will be implemented in stages.

Efforts are underway to strengthen the state’s banking system to make credit more accessible. The government is considering points from the committee’s report to make loan distribution and recovery processes more transparent. This decision is expected to provide a massive boost to the rural economy and provide much-needed relief to distressed farmers.

By announcing this waiver, the Mahayuti government is being seen as having honoured its commitment to the agricultural community.

The state’s agriculture GDP has been set to increase from $55 billion to $500 billion by 2047.

Keeping the state’s farmers as provider at the center, an integrated value chain will be created for 10 to 15 crops to provide a global market for agricultural produce.

The aim is to create an integrated ecosystem for farmers through Agristack, Mahavedh, MahaDBT and other digital platforms to provide them easy access to services.

“Today, Maharashtra is a leader in the country in use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital farming. More than 30 lakh farmers are receiving accurate information on weather forecasts, crop advice, and market prices through Maha- Vistaar Platform. This platform is a true “Digital Companion” for farmers. For tribal farmers, we have included the Dehvali Bhili language in ‘Maha-Vistaar’,” he said.

“Soon, other major tribal languages will also be included. For farmers who do not have a smartphone, we have started the ‘Vasudha’ voice service. Through this, advice on crop health and pest management is being given over phone calls. Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Incubation Centers are being established in all four agricultural universities alongwith Agriculture Data Exchange and Sandbox in the state. This will give a big boost to agri-startups. Because of these modern technologies, the cost of agricultural production will decrease by up to 25 per cent, helping greatly to increase farmers’ income,” he said.

Under the Krishi Samrudhi Yojana, infrastructure will be created by increasing capital investment in the agriculture sector in the state during the period of four years from 2026-27 to 2029-30.

“In order to produce healthy and nutritious natural agricultural products by bringing 5 lakh hectares of area under natural farming, the new ‘Maharashtra Natural Farming Mission’ scheme will be implemented in the next two years. Farm labourers will be included in the Gopinath Munde accident ex-gratia grant scheme,” the CM said.

–IANS

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