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Haryana Vidhan Sabha winter session: Over 25 lakh farmers have Rs 60,816 crore outstanding loans, says CM Nayab Singh Saini

Farmers from Hisar, Sirsa lead the state with the highest number of outstanding agriculture loan

4 min readChandigarhDec 18, 2025 07:04 PM IST

Haryana agriculture loan, outstanding debt, farmers, Rs 60,816 crore, Hisar, Sirsa, Nayab Singh Saini,

CM Saini said that, “As on 30.09.2025, the amount of outstanding agriculture loan is Rs 60,816 crore against 25,67,467 number of farmers”. (File photo)

Haryana’s over 25.67 lakh farmers are yet to pay their outstanding agriculture loan amounting to a whopping Rs 60,816 crore, with those from Hisar and Sirsa leading the list.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini stated this in Haryana Vidhan Sabha on Thursday in his reply to INLD MLA Arjun Chautala’s query during the Question Hour on the first day of the winter session.

The MLA from Rania sought the government’s reply on two points: a) the number of farmers who have outstanding agricultural loans and the total amount of such outstanding debt till July; b) complete details of government relief schemes for small and marginal farmers who are unable to repay their outstanding loans, if any.

CM Saini said that, “As on 30.09.2025, the amount of outstanding agriculture loan is Rs 60,816 crore against 25,67,467 number of farmers”.

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In reply to the second query, he said cooperative banks provide crop loans up to Rs 1.50 lakh to farmers, subject to land holding at an effective zero per cent interest rate; with 3 per cent interest subvention by the Central Government; and 4 per cent by the state government for timely repayment.

“Further, the state government has extended relief through One Time Settlement (OTS) schemes by waiving interest and penal interest for defaulting farmers. Under the 2019 OTS, 3,08,302 farmers benefited up to Rs 1,348.40 crore, and under the 2022 OTS, a total of 17,847 farmers benefited to the extent of Rs 66.01 crore. The OTS scheme has now been extended up to March 31, 2026,” the chief minister said.

According to the Haryana government’s OTS schemes, “farmers who repay only the principal amount to the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) can get 100 per cent waiver” of the outstanding interest on their loans.

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“This relief totals around Rs 2,266 crore in interest waived, benefiting over 6.8 lakh farmers and poor labourers across the state. The scheme is available until March 31, 2026. After settling their principal, farmers may also be eligible for fresh loans for their next crop if needed,” he said.

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Explaining the situation, a senior officer told The Indian Express that the state is providing compensation for crop losses (eg, due to heavy rain or natural calamities) by not directly reducing outstanding loan principal.

“Receiving such compensation can improve farmers’ financial condition and help them meet loan obligations more easily. The government has recently released Rs 116 crore to more than 53,000 farmers to compensate for Kharif 2025 crop damage,” the officer said.

The issue of agricultural debt was also raised in the Lok Sabha in August to which Minister of State for Agriculture Ramnath Thakur had said that the burden of agricultural debt continues to weigh heavily on India’s farmers, with Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh emerging among the states where agricultural households carry some of the highest average outstanding loans, as per newly released national data.

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Citing figures, the MoS had stated that while Andhra Pradesh tops the list with an average farm debt of Rs 2,45,554 per household, other states in both northern and southern India reflect worrying levels of rural indebtedness. “Among the northern states, Punjab reported the third-highest average loan burden at Rs 2,03,249, while Haryana closely followed at Rs 1,82,922. Himachal Pradesh also stood high on the chart with Rs 85,825, and Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, reported an average of Rs 51,107 per agricultural household,” Thakur had stated in August.

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