Pawar rules out farm loan waiver for now, says ‘all promises need not be fulfilled’

MUMBAI: It was one of the Mahayuti alliance’s major election promises, which is why state finance minister Ajit Pawar’s words hit hard when he announced that the state would not be waiving loans taken by farmers any time soon.

Pawar, who is also deputy chief minister, added the state government is not in a position to waive farm loans for the next two years, and insisted that farmers repay pending loans within the stipulated deadline. His words cut deeper, backed as they were by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. “Whatever stand is taken by Ajitdada is the stand of the state government,” Fadnavis said on Saturday. He reminded farmers that Pawar had not altogether cancelled the waiver.

Pawar, who has been voicing concern over the state’s precarious financial situation, chose his hometown, Baramati, to deliver the shocker. “Today is March 28 and I am asking everyone to repay their farm loans by March 31. You mustn’t assume that everything you’ve been promised will become a reality,” he said on Friday. The message was clear – farmers should not be under the illusion that their loans would be waived.

To justify his stand, Pawar reeled off some key figures from the state’s budget, to an audience comprising mainly farmers. “In the ₹7.30-lakh crore budget, around ₹62,000 crore will be spent on repaying the power bills of agriculture pumps, ₹45,000 crore on the Ladki Bahin scheme, ₹3.5 lakh crore on paying salaries, pensions of government employees, and interest on loans taken by the state,” he said.

The rest, he said, would be spent on school uniforms, hostels, roads, power, water supply and other basic amenities. “All this must be taken into account. We will take a decision [on farm loans] based on how things shape up; right now, the situation is not appropriate. Farmers should repay their loans for this year and for the next year too,” Pawar emphasised.

This is the second election promise the Mahayuti government has reneged on due to the state’s precarious finances. The first was the Mukhyamantrai Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, the direct cash benefit scheme for economically vulnerable women, which helped the Mahayuti alliance return to power. Launched with much fanfare during last year’s election campaign, the scheme is, in fact, one of the key reasons for the burden on the treasury.

The state government had promised to hike the monthly assistance from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100 but while presenting the annual budget, Pawar and Fadnavis made it clear that the handout would not be increased in the forseeable future due to paucity of funds.

Pawar’s stand on farm loan waiver is seen as a confession that the state’s fiscal health is in poor shape. According to the state’s annual budget, the revenue deficit in 2024-25 is estimated at ₹26,536 crore, and the fiscal deficit is expected to be ₹1.33 lakh crore. Thanks to a series of populist schemes announced as poll promises, the fiscal deficit is expected to increase further. In 2025-26, the estimated revenue and fiscal deficits are estimated to be an unprecedented ₹45,892 crore and ₹1.36 lakh crore, respectively. The state debt is estimated to reach ₹9.32 lakh crore by the end of FY2025-26.

“This is nothing short of a betrayal,” said Dr Ashok Dhawale, president, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), which has been advocating the rights of the agrarian community. “All they wanted was the votes of the agrarian community.”

Raju Shetti, who heads the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, another major farmer group, said, “Why didn’t Ajit Pawar object to this promise before the elections? Tempting promises were made to get votes from the farmers.”

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said, “They got an absolute majority by promising a farm loan waiver and now they are shamelessly asking farmers to repay their loans by March 31. Ajit Pawar is rubbing salt in the wounds of farmers.”

NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad remarked, “This government makes promises during elections, gets votes and is now demanding that they (farmers) repay their loans. The Mahayuti has shown its true colours.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) called Pawar’s stand strategic exploitation of the helplessness of the farming community. “He (Ajit Pawar) has admitted that it was a false promise made by them in the run-up to the polls. Slowly, the Ladki Bahin Yojana will also collapse and the Mahayuti government will revive it only on the verge of the next elections,” alleged Sachin Ahir, Sena (UBT) MLC.