The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) extended loans of ₹27,992 crore to Andhra Pradesh during 2019-20, according to NABARD Chief General Manager S. Selvaraj.
In a statement on Thursday, the CGM said that loans disbursed by NABARD Andhra Pradesh Regional Office reached an all-time high of ₹27,992 crore, up from ₹19,801 crore the previous year – a growth of 41%. The total refinance extended to banks in the State for supporting short-term crop loans and long-term agriculture financing during the year touched ₹20,515 crore and registered a growth of 29% over last year. In line with NABARD’s mandate of strengthening rural financial institutions, major portion of refinance was given to Rural Cooperative Banks, followed by Regional Rural Banks and commercial banks. A sum of ₹1,385 crore was also released directly to the District Central Cooperative Banks for meeting short-term credit requirement under a multi-purpose credit limit, he said.
Aid for ongoing projects
Under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), the NABARD sanctioned projects of ₹1,199 crore and released ₹1,200 crore during the year to Government of Andhra Pradesh for completion of ongoing projects. To supplement efforts of 'per drop more crop' component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, NABARD sanctioned ₹616 crore under Micro Irrigation Fund, he said.
The NABARD released ₹31.27 crore to Sangam Dairy for dairy processing in Guntur district; ₹9.72 crore was sanctioned to M/s Gama Biotech Farms Pvt. Ltd., Krishna district, for setting up food processing units and ₹11.40 crore was released to Andhra Pradesh State Warehousing Corporation for construction of three warehouses, he said.
The NABARD sanctioned ₹1,931-crore loan for completion of the Chintalapudi lift-irrigation project including drinking water supply in West Godavari and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh and ₹819 crore released to AP Water Resources Development Corporation. The NABARD also supported AP State Civil Supplies Corporation for paddy procurement operations with a working capital loan of ₹4,030 crore, he added.
