The Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, directed banks to ensure that their overall direct lending to farmers should not fall below the average of last three years, as government has expressed concerns over impact of recent adverse weather conditions.
The RBI said government had expressed concerns over adverse impact of any reduction in direct credit to individual farmers given the recent weather related difficulties faced by the agricultural sector.
“Banks are, therefore, directed to ensure that their overall direct lending to non-corporate farmers does not fall below the system-wide average of the last three years achievement (to be notified shortly), failing which they will attract the usual penalties for shortfall,” RBI said in a notification.
Banks should also continue to maintain all efforts to reach the level of 13.5 per cent direct lending to the beneficiaries who earlier constituted the direct agriculture sector, it said.
After a good start, the south-west June-September monsoon has weakened in mid-July, including in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
In an effort to increase direct lending to agriculture, the target for lending to small and marginal farmers under the recently revised priority sector norms has been increased to 7 per cent for 2015-16 and to 8 per cent for 2016-17. In its revised priority sector lending norms announced in April, the RBI also widened the definition of priority sector by including medium enterprises, social infrastructure and renewable energy while retaining the lending target to the sector at 40 per cent. — PTI
