Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that the government was monitoring the agricultural loans extended by banks in rural areas. She expressed the hope of disbursing agricultural loans worth Rs 15 lakh crore in the next financial year. The government has proposed to increase the target of agricultural loan disbursement by 11% to Rs 15 lakh crore in the budget for the year 2020-21. An amount of Rs 1.6 lakh crore has been allocated for implementing various projects in the agriculture and allied sector to double the income of farmers by 2022.
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Speaking to reporters after addressing RBI Central Board, Sitharaman said, "Credit limit has been increased. I am convinced that the needs of the lower level have been done. We hope that the demand will increase and the loan needs can be met. I have been monitoring banks and their loan disbursements, particularly in rural areas. So, I think we will be able to do that. The government has allocated Rs 75,000 crore for PM-KISAN, a scheme related to the increase in income of farmers in the budget for the year 2020-21." In the current financial year, an equal amount was allocated under this head. However, in the revised estimate, the allocation for this scheme has been reduced to Rs 54,370 crore.
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During the current financial year, there is a target of agricultural distribution of Rs 13.5 lakh crore. Generally, interest on agricultural loans is 9%. At present, the government is giving 2% subsidy on loans given to farmers. Due to this, farmers are getting loans of up to 3 lakh rupees at an annual interest of 7%. The Finance Minister said that there was no discussion about this in the RBI Board meeting on Saturday about the proposed Mahavilaya of public sector banks. She said, "I do not see any reason, due to which the decision has to be withdrawn or there is some delay in issuing the notification. You will get information about this at the appropriate time."
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