NABARD Pegs Odisha Credit Potential At Rs 90,000 Crore

Bhubaneswar: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has projected a credit potential of Rs 90,395.69 crore for Odisha under the priority sector for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

The projection was reported by Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari at an annual seminar organised by NABARD here on Monday.

After inaugurating the State Credit Seminar, Pujari said agriculture term loan finance should be increased in allied sectors such as animal husbandry, poultry and fisheries. This would lead to asset formation and diversification of farmers’ income, he added.

The minister also advised regional banking heads to increase their outreach in non-banked areas to help implement development programmes and boost digital banking and financial inclusion in Odisha.

He called for a coordinated support from all stakeholders to make Odisha a leading state in Indian economy.

Principal Secretary (Finance), Ashok Meena applauded NABARD for highlighting the importance of agriculture and allied sectors in the overall credit potential of Odisha, where two-third of the people is dependent on agriculture.

Meena appealed to all commercial banks to increase agriculture term loan under various state government programmes, especially Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana (MMKUY).

Assuring full support of the government in working with the banking sector to improve the rural credit scenario, Meena urged the bankers to focus on farmer-producer organisation (FPO) and joint liability groups (JLG) financing.

Of the total credit potential for priority sector, Rs 43,282.11 crore has been assessed under agriculture. Emphasis has been given to re-calibrate the potential assessment keeping in view recent trends in achievement of ground level credit.