The Maharashtra government on Thursday (May 21, 2026) informed that loans of farmers will be waived off before June 30, stating that it is likely to witness a rainfall deficit of around 12% this monsoon season due to El Niño.

“So far, the forecast shows that the State will receive average of 88% of rainfall. Some regions are likely to receive more rainfall, while in others, rainfall will be scarce. The problems will emerge in Western Vidarbha and Marathwada,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, adding that the government is inducing technology-based solutions to combat low rainfall conditions. 

According to the Agriculture Department, the Kharif season is the biggest season in Maharashtra, as 152 lakh hectares of area are under cultivation. Among which, 88 lakh hectares comprise the cultivation of Soyabean and cotton, followed by sugarcane. The major challenge will be low rainfall due to El Niño and availability of fertiliser due to the ongoing war. 

On Thursday, Mr. Fadnavis held a “State-Level Pre-Kharif Season Review” meeting and a meeting with the Bank Committee on the status of loan waiver and loan distribution for the coming Kharif season. The Maharashtra government announced a loan waiver under the scheme Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karjmafi Yojana, on March 6, as part of the State Budget 2026–27. Under the scheme, up to ₹2 lakh on crop loans will be waived off, and a ₹50,000 incentive will be given to farmers who have consistently repaid loans on time. 

After the meeting, Mr. Fadnavis pointed out that nationalised banks are strictly instructed to meet their target of 80% loan disbursement in the agricultural sector and prohibited banks from demanding CIBIL scores for crop loans. 

Gramin banks and District Central Cooperative Banks provides 66% of loans to farmers, while nationalised banks bank covers 26% loans to farmers. We have told the nationalised bank to meet the target of 80%,” said Mr. Fadnavis.

He also highlighted its collaboration with organisations operating weather forecasting systems in India. The region-wise rainfall information through mobile applications and artificial intelligence-based systems will be provided to the farmers to understand rainfall in their respective areas, as the Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

Maharashtra has also become the first State to integrate the Bharat Forecast System (BharatFS) into its disaster management framework. Mr. Fadnavis said, “The IMD’s indigenous weather forecasting model will improve real-time decision-making during disasters as it has the capacity to forecast weather for as small as a 6 km by 6 km range.”