Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Minister of Finance Anam Ramnarayana Reddy said that the AP government allocated Rs 500 crore in the 2013-14 Budget to meet the expenditure under interest free agricultural loans.
He told reporters here on Thursday that the AP government has been implementing this scheme since two years to save farmers from interest burdens on agricultural loans.
He said that any farmer who repays his agricultural loan within a period of 12 months is eligible for the `interest free agricultural loan scheme` under which the government has already disbursed Rs 140 crore. He also said that the government is prepared to meet any additional burden under this scheme.
Reddy said that the state government released Rs 1662 crore to clear dues under the input subsidy scheme to drought hit tehsils of the state, besides another Rs 428 crore released as input subsidy to cyclone affected areas.
He said that dues to farmers would be paid directly to their accounts and requested farmers to open no-frills accounts in any commercial bank convenient to them.
He said that the government still receives reports from district collectors on dues to farmers both in drought as well as cyclone affected areas, and the government is considering clearance of all dues to the farming community.
PTI
