Notwithstanding the tall claims made by the Andhra Pradesh government of providing financial assistance to farmers under Rythu Bharosa or Annadata Sukhibhava, the crop loans taken by farmers in the state have accumulated to Rs 3,76,823 crore by September 30 this year.
In terms of agriculture debt, Andhra Pradesh stands in the second position in the country, only next to Tamil Nadu, which tops the list with agricultural loans of Rs 4.94 lakh crore.
This information was disclosed by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
According to the data presented, Andhra Pradesh farmers borrowed Rs 2,89,481 crore from commercial banks, Rs 33,739 crore from cooperative banks, and Rs 53,603 crore from Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).
Notably, cooperative and rural banks have extended higher volumes of agricultural credit to farmers in Andhra Pradesh compared to Tamil Nadu.
The Union minister clarified that the Central government does not have any proposal under consideration for a nationwide farm loan waiver.
At the same time, the outstanding liabilities of power distribution companies (DISCOMs) in Andhra Pradesh stood at Rs 77,600 crore as of the 2024–25 financial year.
Andhra Pradesh DISCOMs are making payments to power generation companies with an average delay of 105 days for electricity purchases. He also provided comparative data on delayed payments by other states.
Delhi tops the list with the longest payment delays at 389 days, followed by Jharkhand (384 days) and Telangana (295 days). In contrast, Gujarat’s DISCOMs were cited as an example of efficiency, clearing payments within just four days.