Hyderabad: The waiver of crop loans in Telangana took a new turn with the RBI seeking a fresh report on the damage caused to crops on account of heavy rains/hailstorms due to the Phailin cyclone in October last year.
The government had declared over 300 mandals as cyclone-affected to seek reschedulement of loans amounting to Rs 7,000 crore. However, the RBI wants to examine the cyclone effects on its own.
While Phailin cyclone had struck the Telangana region in united AP in October last year, the government had released orders declaring several mandals as cyclone affected only last week.
The severe delay in declaring the mandals as cyclone-affected has created doubts among the RBI officials who now want to examine whether those mandals were really affected or whether it was done to seek reschedulement of loans as part of the TRS government’s promise of the crop loan waiver scheme up to Rs 1 lakh.
The Telangana Cabinet, which approved waiver of all types of crop loans, including gold loans, up to Rs 1 lakh, has estimated the total arrears at Rs 19,000 crore. However, the RBI is not willing to accept the loan waiver scheme and has only agreed to a reschedulement of loans.
Even for this, it has imposed a condition stating that reschedulement will be allowed only if the Telangana government gives a written undertaking that it will pay the arrears within three years.
The government, which is struggling to mobilise funds for paying the loan arrears, has declared several mandals as cyclone-affected. This will automatically provide the provision to seek reschedulement of loans in these mandals, which amounts to Rs 7,000 crore.
For the remaining Rs 12,000 crore, the government has proposed to pay Rs 4,000 crore per year for three years.
The RBI has sought an independent report from banks in these mandals regarding the extent of damage caused to crops and the difference between agri production achieved during the previous two years to confirm the actual situation.
