Maharashtra Extends Farm Loan Waiver Scheme to Cover 56 Lakh Farmers

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday announced major changes to the state government’s latest farm loan waiver scheme, including the removal of a condition that excluded farmers whose total dues exceeded Rs 2 lakh. The decision is expected to bring thousands of previously ineligible farmers under the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Farm Loan Waiver Scheme, which the government says will benefit around 56 lakh farmers.

Replying to a debate in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Fadnavis said the scheme’s eligibility period had also been extended. While it was earlier applicable to arrears up to the 2025-26 financial year, farmers with eligible outstanding loans up to 2026-27 will now be covered. The chief minister described the extension as the first such decision taken by any government in the state.

Fadnavis, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the loan waiver was necessary to help financially distressed farmers regain access to institutional credit and avoid dependence on private moneylenders. He rejected claims that the scheme would provide only Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 13,000 crore in assistance and leave 36 lakh farmers out, saying the government expects to provide benefits worth Rs 36,000 crore to 56 lakh farmers.

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The chief minister compared the new scheme with the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Farm Loan Waiver Scheme of 2019, under which eligibility was capped at overdue loans of Rs 2 lakh. Farmers whose dues exceeded the limit even by Re 1 were excluded, he said. Around 32 lakh farmers benefited from that scheme, while Maharashtra has implemented major farm loan waivers in 2017, 2020 and 2026.

Responding to demands from ruling alliance legislators regarding the Rs 50,000 repayment-related condition, Fadnavis said removing it entirely would place an additional burden of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore on the state exchequer. However, he announced that farmers covered under the earlier Mahatma Phule scheme would now also receive waiver benefits of up to Rs 2 lakh under the latest measures.

Fadnavis acknowledged that repeated loan waivers could encourage some borrowers to delay repayments and weaken the financial health of cooperative banks. He said the government had consulted banking sector representatives before finalising the scheme and sought to balance farmer relief with financial stability. Maharashtra already provides about Rs 25,000 crore annually in electricity subsidies to farmers, while various agricultural subsidy programmes have an outlay of around Rs 95,000 crore.

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