Loans to Indian farmers will likely beat the government's target of 3.75 trillion rupees ($83 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2011, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was quoted as saying on Saturday. "Agriculture lending, particularly the short-term crop lending, is doing exceedingly well," Mukherjee said at a function in New Delhi, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
"2010-11 I fixed a target of rupees 375,000 crore (3.75 trillion rupees) and I am quite confident, because by December I have already reached rupees 3 lakh crore (3 trillion), it will be possible to exceed the target of rupees 375,000 crore," he said. India, keen to restrain rising food inflation, took steps in its national budget in February to spruce up fresh food distribution systems by building cold storage facilities and making more loans available to farmers.
Mukherjee raised the target for loans to the farm sector to 4.75 trillion in the new financial year starting on April 1. Asia's third-largest economy has been grappling with soaring prices for the past year that have prompted seven rate hikes by the central bank since last March, with another rise expected next week. India's headline inflation is expected to ease slightly to 7.79 percent in February, according to a Reuters poll released on Friday.