Agri loan waiver not enough: Dharmendra Pradhan

Welcoming state government's decision of waiving of loan for farmers, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan however, stated that its not the ultimate solution and farmers need to be supported with promotion of biofuel projects so that they get additional and sustainable revenue.

Pradhan was in Pune to inaugurate two-day-Bio energy Urja Utsav, a national conference and exhibition organised at Balewadi stadium on Friday. Along with Pradhan, union power minister Piyush Goyal was also present at the inaugural function.

During his inaugural speech, Pradhan hailed the decision of Maharashtra government of waiving off loan of farmers but at the same time, he said that farmers can earn additional revenue if they are encouraged to take up biofuel projects. "The decision of Maharashtra government of waiving off loan is an important decision. However, we have to look beyond loan waiver to improve farmers' economic situation. The agriculture produce can give additional income to farmers if they are supported with bio fuel project," Pradhan said.

"If biofuel projects are taken on large scale in the country, it can import bills upto Rs 1 lakh crore and that money can go into the pockets of our own farmers. We have the technology and if we manage to increase the scale of production of green energy, the revenue generated from it can reach to the deprived class," Pradhan said.

During his speech Pradhan also stated that the government has recently introduced GST and he will be speaking to the union finance minister for tax relaxation for green energy.