New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday doled out sops to farmers, providing them six more months to repay existing loans and bringing down the effective interest rate of loans to five per cent.
"In view of the recent drought in some states and the severe floods in some other parts of the country, I propose to extend by six months the period for repayment of the loan amount by farmers from December 31, 2009, to June 30, 2010," Mukherjee said in his budget speech.
The finance minister in his last budget had proposed additional one per cent interest subvention as an incentive to those farmers who repay their short-term crop loans as per schedule.
"I propose to raise this subvention for timely repayment of crop loans from one per cent to two per cent for 2010-11. Thus, the effective rate of interest for such farmers will now be five per cent per annum," Mukherjee said.
In addition, the government also earmarked Rs.200 crore for introducing new climate resilient agricultural technologies and another Rs.400 crore to enable a green revolution in the eastern region of the country.
Mukherjee's budget also contained schemes to promote cold storage facilities including full exemption from customs duty to refrigeration units required for the manufacture of refrigerated vans or trucks.
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