Centre approves interest-free loans to Loan to FCV tobacco growers in Andhra Pradesh

The Central Government has approved a 10 thousand rupees interest-free Loan to the Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) Tobacco growers in Andhra Pradesh. The Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a release that the loan will be given to over 42 thousand FCV tobacco growers where the crop season is currently underway.

It added that the loan will be provided by the Grower Welfare Fund of the Tobacco Board.  The Government has approved the loan in light of the crops damaged last year due to the MICHAUNG Cyclonic rains in Andhra Pradesh.

The Ministry said that this is a one-time interest-free loan only for the 2023-24 Andhra Pradesh Crop Season. It added that the loan amount will be recovered from the respective tobacco growers’ auction sale proceeds of Andhra Pradesh’s previous crop season.

The Government has also permitted the sale of FCV Tobacco on the Tobacco Boards auction platform. It has waived off the penalty on the sale of excess production of registered growers and unauthorized production of unregistered growers for the 2023-24 Karnataka Crop Season only. FCV Tobacco is mainly produced in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The auctions are going on in Karnataka which has almost 40 thousand FCV tobacco growers.