Bhubaneswar: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on Tuesday hosted the State Credit Seminar 2026–27 in Bhubaneswar and released the State Focus Paper (SFP) projecting Rs 3.15 lakh crore of priority sector credit potential for Odisha in FY 2026–27.
Out of the total projections, MSMEs form the largest share at Rs 1.52 lakh crore, while agriculture accounts for Rs 1.14 lakh crore, with the balance spread across housing, education, renewable energy, social infrastructure, export credit and others.
The seminar was chaired by Odisha Chief Secretary Anu Garg, and attended by Principal Secretary (Finance) Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra. Sarada Prasan Mohanty, Regional Director, RBI, A.D. Ratna Teja, CGM, SBI and Goutam Patra, CGM, UCO Bank & Convenor, SLBC also attended the seminar 0in the presence of controlling Heads of Banks, officials from State Government departments and other stakeholders.
Inaugurating the seminar, the Chief Secretary underlined the state government’s thrust on Vision 2036 blueprint and sought support from all stakeholders to achieve the ambitious target of becoming a developed State by 2036 and a USD 1.5 trillion economy by 2047.
“Fulfilling Odisha’s Vision 2036 aspirations would take sincere efforts from one and all – the State government, public as well as private sectors. The Banks must be well prepared to provide the enhanced credit,” she said.
Appreciating the progress made in the State in supporting SHGs and farmers, she highlighted the need to transition them to the next level of prosperity. “Focus must be accorded on graduating SHGs into SMEs, farmers into agripreneurs,” she said.
Underlining the challenge of “missing middle” in MSME sector, she urged the bankers to provide credit support to create greater number of small and mid-sized industries in the state.
In addition, she also called for closer collaboration between banks and line departments to speed up credit for agri-infrastructure, warehousing, off-farm ventures, and women-led SHGs.
While praising the credit growth in the State, the Principal Secretary, Finance, called for more balanced regional development.“ Focus should also be given to boost credit in tribal and disadvantaged regions,” he said. He further called upon the private sector banks to increase credit dissemination in the priority sector across the State in a bid to enhance CD ratio.
The Regional Director, RBI, in his address, urged the banks to own up the projections prescribed in the State Focus Paper, which would subsequently translate into the Annual Credit Plan of the State. CGM, SBI appreciated NABARD’s efforts in preparing the State Focus Paper through a consultative and bottom-up approach. The SLBC Convenor said while the banks had made impressive progress in deposits and credit growth, challenges remained, including uneven CD ratios, low term lending, and gaps in KCC coverage. V K Arya, CGM NABARD viewed that concerted effort is needed for increasing the credit flow to priority sector with focus on agriculture and allied sector.
“Odisha carries huge potential in credit growth in view of its vast geography, diverse agro-ecology and strong economic development in the past decade,” he said.
