India, Nov. 14 -- With local body polls approaching, the Maharashtra government is planning a new interest subvention scheme to provide relief to farmers who are also cattle rearers. The proposal, expected to benefit around eight million people, will see the state bearing the interest burden on loans taken for animal husbandry activities.

According to officials from the animal husbandry department, most livestock keepers are farmers who also borrow crop loans from banks. While the centre already offers an interest subvention of up to 3% on loans of up to Rs.3 lakh for cattle keepers, the state plans to cover the remaining 4% interest.

Maharashtra has over 16 million registered farmers, of which over 4.5 million avail crop loans with exi...