The Madhya Pradesh government has declared that 35 out of its 51 districts have been affected by drought and asked the Centre to provide Rs 2400 crore as relief. The state has also sought an additional Rs 300 crore for drinking water supply and Rs 750 crore for interest payment waivers on loans, reported Mint.

Madhya Pradesh finance minister Jayant Malaiya and agriculture minister Gouri Shankar Bisen reportedly met Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday evening and briefed him on the situation.

The state recorded a monsoon deficit of 12% this year, according to the Indian Meteorological Department. This has adversely impacted about 4.8 million farmers across 33,283 villages in the state, with close to 4.4 million hectares of farmland having been affected, according to the report.

Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha had previously declared drought in parts of their state.