Maharashtra Crop Loan Waiver Why Announced Now Farmers Benefits

Assembly elections. In the budget session in March, the state government expressed its commitment to fulfil the loan waiver promise by June 30.

A senior NCP minister said, “In the given situation, this was the best package we could afford. It is definitely not going to please everybody.”

As the situation unfolds, the state government may have to make course corrections, he said.

Despite conflict within the coalition, the cabinet on Tuesday unanimously gave its consent for the farm loan waiver and passed a resolution hailing the Chief Minister’s decision.

Responding to the criticism from opposition and farmer leaders, a minister said, “What matters to us is how this decision will work at the grassroots. The Opposition’s reaction is natural as we have pre-empted their plan to corner Mahayuti on agriculture issues during the monsoon session.”

Welcoming the loan waiver, farmer activist Vijay Jawandhia said, “The next decision the government should take is to make Minimum Support Price (MSP) mandatory for kharif crops. In the absence of MSP, the vicious cycle of debt will continue.”

Another decision he batted for was to help farmers cultivate pulses, especially tur dal, in Vidarbha and Marathwada. He said this is one crop that can withstand El Nino (drought-like situations) and is less dependent on fertilisers.

The former chairman of the Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalambhan Mission, Kishore Tiwari, observed, “ Without credit reforms, you cannot make farmers self-reliant.”

The scheme covers short-term crop loans taken between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2025, and comprises three components: a debt waiver, a one-time settlement mechanism, and incentive benefits for regular borrowers.

Under the debt waiver component, farmers with outstanding crop loans of up to Rs 2 lakh, including principal and interest, that remained overdue on September 30, 2025, and unpaid by March 31, 2026, will be eligible for complete relief.

The waiver will apply across one or more loan accounts, irrespective of landholding size.

To avail of the benefit, borrowers must repay the amount exceeding Rs 2 lakh. Once the excess amount is cleared, the state government will waive up to Rs 2 lakh of the remaining dues.

The provision will also apply to restructured and re-restructured crop loans. Eligible farmers have until March 31, 2027, to deposit the balance amount.

In the past, former Chief Minister AR Antulay had given the first loan waiver worth Rs 100 crore in 1980. It invited objections from the Reserve Bank of India. Later, during the UPA government’s rule (2008-09), then Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar announced a relief of Rs 72,000 lakh crore for the entire country. It was implemented during the tenure of then Congress Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. The state component was Rs 6,400 crore.

During his first tenure as Chief Minister, Fadnavis introduced a Rs 34,000-crore loan waiver scheme, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojna, in 2017. The decision came after a severe drought in the state. Three years later, in 2020, then Uddhav Thackeray announced the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Shetkari loan waiver worth Rs 25,000 crore. In both schemes, the farmers were entitled to a loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh and a special incentive of Rs 50,000 for non-defaulters.