Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao on Saturday said the State government had extended deadline for uploading the details of crop loan waiver scheme till February 7. Addressing a press conference here, he said the State government had so far deposited Rs 4,500 crore towards crop loan wavier scheme in the first phase, and efforts were on to release the amounts necessary to meet the second phase of the scheme.

He said the government had stopped payment of Rs 150 crore towards loan waiver to Cooperative Bank following allegation of irregularities surfacing. Except this, first phase disbursement had been completed, he said. Steps were taken to meet the funds needed for second phase. As the banks had requested three more days for uploading the details, he said the deadline had been extended till February 7. No further extension would be given, he said.

If there were any problems in collecting the details of farmers, the bankers, administrate officers and the Mandal Revenue Officer could hold joint meetings at local level and resolve the issue. Once the data was uploaded, the second phase loan waiver would be taken and completed by the end of February, he added. The Minister further said with the help of Acharya N G Ranga Agriculture University (ANGRAU), six bio-fertiliser plants would be set up at Amaravathi, Tadepalligudem, Tirupathi, Ananthapur, Kadapa.