Farm loan interest rate reduced

Bhopal, Sep 28 (UNI) The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to reduce the interest rate on cooperative agriculture loans to seven per cent and exemption from stamp duty on loans upto Rs 10 lakh.

Addressing the 125th meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee here yesterday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced simplification of the procedure for issuing no-dues certificate for the farmers to obtain cooperative loan. At present, no due certificate costs about Rs 1,500 to a farmer.

At present, the interest rate on cooperative agriculture loan ranges from 10 to 16.50 per cent. Reduction in interest rate will cause financial burden of Rs 120 crore, of which Rs 80 crore would be borne by the state government. Agriculture loans of about Rs 2,600 crore are provided annually to the farmers in the state.

Loans obtained by farmers from banks attract stamp duty of one and a half per cent in case land is pledged. Henceforth, there would be no stamp duty on loans upto Rs 10 lakh, Mr Chouhan said.

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