However, the actual cost to exchequer will be less than Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion), as banks will write off about Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) on account of charges like penal interest, sources said.
About 29.8 million small and marginal farmers have got a loan waiver of Rs 50,254 crore (Rs 502.54 billion). In addition, the government has also given debt relief of Rs 16,223 crore (Rs 162.23 billion) to 6.6 million other farmers under the one time settlement scheme.
Speaking about farm credit growth, Chidambaram said this year it would cross the target of Rs 2,80,000 crore (Rs 2,800 billion)as against Rs 2,50,000 crore (Rs 2,500 billion) last year. "We have addressed the need of farmers in a systematic way," he told Parliament during the debate on the trust vote earlier on Tuesday.
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