Delhi among leaders in cheap farm loans

Delhi and Chandigarh may hardly have any land left for agriculture but when it comes to availing cheap farm loans, they beat top agricultural states of the country. Residents of the two cities took agricultural loans worth over Rs 32,400 crore in 2009-10, more than UP, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand put together.

The four agrarian states collectively got less than Rs 31,000 crore in 2009-10.

Delhi alone has, since 2007-08, consumed more than Rs 57,000 crore of farm loans. If repayment is done on time, farm loans currently attract interest as low as 4%.

The finance ministry is reviewing all disbursements of farm loans in the past few years, with the government investigating whether farm loans are being diverted to commercial real estate.

The figures are worrisome, given that the UPA government has over the years enhanced allocation for subsidized farm loans from Rs 86,000 crore in 2004 to Rs 4.75 lakh crore in 2011-12. The trend captured by the ministry also shows a lion's share of the benefits being cornered by UPA-ruled states or allies, wielding their influence on vital government resources.

Tamil Nadu, ruled by UPA constituent DMK, managed to get the highest disbursement of Rs 41,100 crore in 2009-10. In the past three years, the state received Rs 99,500 crore in farm loans. The Congress-ruled states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh together received Rs 61,000 crore last year and Rs 1,54,000 crore in the past three years.

Nearly 52% of all agricultural loans were consumed by six Congress-UPA states/UTs, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh.