AHMEDABAD: Gujarat farmers owed Rs 74,176.52 crore in outstanding agricultural loans to public sector banks (PSBs) as of March 31, 2026, placing the state 10th nationally in the latest official data.
A calculation from the state-wise dataset puts Gujarat’s share at 4.2% of India’s total outstanding agricultural loans reported by the PSBs, even as the Centre has made it clear that no one-time waiver proposal for small and marginal farmers is currently under consideration.
The figures, placed before the Lok Sabha by the Union Finance Ministry, underline the scale of outstanding agricultural borrowing in Gujarat at a time when farm loan waivers continue to remain a major political and economic issue.
Tamil Nadu topped the national list with Rs 3,44,996.64 crore in outstanding agricultural loans, followed by Andhra Pradesh at Rs 2,69,415.73 crore. Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were also ahead of Gujarat.
Within the region, Gujarat’s outstanding agricultural loans were lower than neighbouring Rajasthan’s Rs 88,599.32 crore and Madhya Pradesh’s Rs 79,353.97 crore, but significantly higher than Punjab’s Rs 48,421.94 crore and Haryana’s Rs 39,786.04 crore.
The data has gained further significance because the Union government has ruled out any immediate move towards a nationwide one-time farm loan waiver for small and marginal farmers. “No proposal to waive off the outstanding agricultural loans is currently under consideration with the Union government,” the Ministry of Finance said.
Instead, the ministry referred to the Reserve Bank of India’s framework for resolving stressed assets, under which lending banks have the discretion to restructure loans of borrowers facing financial stress in accordance with their board-approved policies and regulatory guidelines.
However, the Rs 74,176.52 crore represents outstanding agricultural loans and should not automatically be treated as overdue, defaulted or bad loans. The Lok Sabha annexure does not provide a breakup of overdue accounts, non-performing assets (NPAs), stressed loans, number of farmers, district-wise exposure or the share of small and marginal farmers. Still, the data puts Gujarat’s farm credit exposure firmly in the national spotlight.
The Lok Sabha question specifically sought details of the total outstanding agricultural loans of farmers in PSBs, state-wise, as on March 31 this year. The government placed the figures reported by banks through a NABARD portal. The data has been marked provisional.