Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday, 16 June announced a significant expansion of the state's crop loan waiver scheme, extending full debt relief to cooperative bank loans up to ₹75,000 for small, marginal, and other farmer categories. The revised package is estimated to benefit 14.43 lakh farmers across the state at an additional cost of ₹5,932.23 crore to the exchequer.

What Changed and Why

The original scheme, unveiled barely three weeks earlier, covered crop loans up to ₹50,000 taken by small and marginal farmers through cooperative banks. Farmers' organisations and political parties swiftly pressed the government to widen the net, arguing that a substantial section of cultivators with higher outstanding borrowings had been left out.

Acting on these representations, the state government held a high-level review meeting at the Secretariat on Monday, chaired by Chief Minister Vijay. Ministers and senior officials from the Agriculture, Cooperation, Finance, and Planning and Development departments participated in the deliberations before the revised limits were finalised.

Key Terms of the Revised Scheme

Under the expanded package, crop loans obtained through cooperative banks between 1 May 2025 and 28 February 2026 will be fully written off if the outstanding balance does not exceed ₹75,000. Farmers whose loans surpass that threshold will receive a flat financial assistance of ₹35,000 each, ensuring partial relief for a broader section of the farming community.

Officials noted the revised scheme was formulated in alignment with operational guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for government-sponsored loan waiver programmes.

Who Benefits and How Much

According to official estimates, 8.33 lakh marginal farmers will receive waivers and relief worth ₹3,599.67 crore, while 5.16 lakh small farmers will benefit to the tune of ₹1,995.42 crore. An additional 93,548 farmers classified under other categories will receive assistance amounting to ₹337.15 crore.

Implementation and Next Steps

Chief Minister Vijay directed officials to roll out the expanded scheme without delay, with the stated aim of enabling eligible farmers to access fresh institutional credit ahead of the upcoming cultivation season. The government said prompt implementation was essential to ensure farmers could prepare their fields without lingering financial constraints.

This is the second revision to Tamil Nadu's agricultural debt relief framework in under a month, reflecting sustained pressure from farm lobbies and opposition parties to make the scheme more inclusive. Whether the expanded waiver succeeds in restoring credit flow to cooperative banks — which carry the immediate burden of the write-offs — will be closely watched in the weeks ahead.