New Delhi, 7 June (IANS). The office of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a post on social media platform ‘X’ on Saturday that Kisan Credit Card (KCC) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become a lifeline for millions of Indian farmers.
KCC is a banking product that provides timely provided affordable loans to farmers to meet agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides as well as cash requirements for crop production and related activities.
In a post on social media platform ‘X’, with an infographic, Nirmala Sitharaman’s office was told that more than 465 lakh applications have been approved with a credit limit of Rs 5.7 lakh crore.
The scheme has promoted easy access to short -term crop loans. The post states that farmers are given a loan of up to Rs 3 lakh at an interest rate of 4 percent with timely repayment.
On repaying the loan on time, farmers are also being provided an additional prompt repair incentive (PRI) of 3 percent, which makes the interest rate effectively 4 percent for the farmers.
Thus, farmers can save interest up to Rs 9,000 per year on every one lakh KCC loan.
The government has also increased the limit of subsidized KCC loan from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, which has benefited about 7.7 crore farmers including fishermen and dairy farmers.
In addition, the Finance Minister also appreciated the PM Modi -led government for increasing the agricultural budget and starting various schemes that fulfill the welfare of farmers in the country.
The office of Finance Minister Sitharaman said in a post on X, “In 2013, from Rs 21,500 crore to Rs 2024, the agricultural budget has seen an increase of more than 5 times in the agricultural budget, which reflects the Prime Minister Narendra Modi -led government’s commitment to its farmers and their welfare.”
-IANS
SKT/KR
