Haryana Government has awarded a contract to ICICI Lombard to provide insurance coverage for the farming community. This step has been taken to protect the interests of the farmers in the kharif season. The crop insurance cover falls under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
The crops notified by the government for the current kharif season and their insurance coverage per hectare are – paddy (₹ 62,500), cotton (₹ 60,000) bajra (₹ 27,500) and maize (₹ 25,000). ICICI Lombard will be provided with a particular cluster for coverage as decided by the government.
With July 31st being fixed as the last date for depositing the premium, the scheme can be availed by both loanees as well as non-loanee farmers. The loanee farmers will have to be brought under the ambit of the PMFBY scheme. In case this does not happen, then the losses suffered by the non-insured loanee farmer due to crop failure will have to be borne by the bank.
For the rain dependent kharif crops, the premium for the insurance would be reduced to 2% of the actual value. The same premium will be reduced to 1.5% during the rabi season. This is in contrast to the previous premiums of 3.5-8% under the scheme.