Mumbai, April 27 -- Around 35-40 lakh farmers in Maharashtra are expected to benefit from the state government's farm loan waiver scheme, which will cost the exchequer about Rs.27,000 crore, according to a panel report submitted to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last week. The committee, headed by Praveen Pardeshi, was set up in October 2025 after protests by Prahar Janshakti leader Bachu Kadu demanding a waiver. Announced in the 2026-27 budget, the scheme provides relief of up to Rs.2 lakh on overdue crop loans till September 30, 2025, and offers incentives of up to Rs.50,000 for timely repayment. The loan waiver scheme was named as Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Farmer Debt Waiver Scheme. The committee has also recommended long-term measures to reduce reliance on recurring waivers, including promoting group farming and ensuring timely financial assistance to farmers affected by unseasonal rains and other natural calamities. A senior official said the delays in aid often push farmers towards informal credit, trapping them in cycles of debt. The announcement comes amid continued distress in the agricultural sector due to floods, unseasonal rains and price fluctuations over the past two years, and sustained pressure from opposition parties and farmer groups. Fadnavis said that the scheme will be implemented before the start of kharif season. To facilitate this, the government will utilize Agri Stack, a unified Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). Meanwhile, Dr Ajit Nawale, general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), has demanded that the report be made public. "The eligibility norms imposed in previous loan waiver schemes deprived many farmers of the benefits. If the government plans to apply similar criteria this time, the outcome is likely to be the same. We therefore demand that the committee's recommendations be made public," he said. Earlier, the government had planned to restrict the loan waiver scheme to farmers who had not availed the benefits of the past schemes. "However, it was felt that such a move would not be politically prudent, and the plan was subsequently revised," said another official. Maharashtra has implemented similar schemes in the past, including the Uddhav Thackeray led Maha Vikas Aghadi government's Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Shetkari Karzmukti Yojana (MJPSKY), a farm loan waiver scheme, which covered 32.27 lakh farmers which makes up 99.53% of the total 32.42 lakh eligible farmers under the scheme. In 2017 Fadnavis announced the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana (CSMSSY) that reached 44.4 lakh farmers, constituting 87% of the eligible farmers....