The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday approved the ‘Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karja-mukti Yojana’ to provide farm loan waiver of up to ₹2 lakh, and also introduced incentive benefits for those farmers who have repaid their loans on time.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, an official statement said.
The scheme has three components — loan waiver, one-time settlement (OTS) and incentive benefits — and there will be no landholding criterion for eligibility, it said.
Under the waiver component, farmers whose total outstanding short-term crop loans, including principal and interest, are up to ₹2 lakh will be eligible for a complete debt relief. The loans must have been disbursed between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2025, remained overdue as of September 30, 2025, and unpaid till March 31, 2026.
The farmers whose dues exceed ₹2 lakh will be covered under the OTS component. Such borrowers will have to clear the amount above ₹2 lakh, after which they will become eligible for a waiver of ₹2 lakh.
They have been given time until March 31, 2027, to deposit their share of the outstanding amount.
The cabinet welcomed the decision, describing it as a major relief measure for farmers. Ministers applauded the move during the meeting and termed it a historic decision benefiting lakhs of cultivators across the state.
Office-bearers of political parties, government employees, income-tax payers and officers and employees of cooperative institutions drawing salaries exceeding ₹25,000 per month have been excluded from the scheme.
Under the incentive benefit component, farmers who have repaid crop loans within the prescribed period in at least two of the three financial years from 2022-23 to 2024-25 will receive an incentive grant of up to ₹50,000. Eligible beneficiaries who have taken out crop loans in the current financial year will also have to repay those loans on time.
In another provision, farmers with overdue amounts exceeding ₹50,000 can avail of a grant of ₹50,000 after paying the balance amount above that threshold, enabling them to become debt-free. They too have been given time until March 31, 2027, to make the required payment.
The beneficiaries of the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Shetkari Karjamukti Yojana, 2019, who subsequently defaulted on fresh crop loans, would be eligible for loan relief of up to ₹50,000, subject to certain conditions.
Implementation of the scheme will be monitored by a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary. A separate committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) will negotiate with nationalised, private and regional rural banks regarding settlement of non-performing agricultural loans and determination of concessions to be extended by lenders.
The scheme will cover loans availed from nationalised banks, private banks, regional rural banks, district central cooperative banks and primary agricultural credit societies. Aadhaar authentication and registration on the AgriStack platform will be mandatory for beneficiaries, while a dedicated digital portal will be developed for implementation of the scheme.
The Opposition Congress said the loan waiver should not remain merely an announcement as the past implementation of the scheme created doubts about the government’s commitment.
Around 80 lakh women were found ineligible months after the roll-out of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, and the government’s assertion that 56 lakh farmers would benefit from loan waiver should be viewed cautiously, the party said.
The government should provide a blanket debt relief to all farmers, it said.
NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto also demanded a blanket loan waiver without conditions.
