The State-Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) meeting held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy resolved to increase the quantum of farm loans by 11.90% and overall lending by 9.78% compared to the previous year.
The target for agriculture loans for 2020-21 was fixed at ₹1,28,660 crore, which is more than half of the total loan outlay of ₹2,51,600 crore, according to an official release.
Addressing the meeting, Mr. Jagan said the government was determined to implement the zero interest loan scheme for farmers as per schedule and asked the bankers to submit details.
He also sought their support for the construction of warehouses and establishment of food processing units. In August and September, the YSR Cheyutha and YSR Asara schemes would be launched for the benefit of one crore women, he said.
The way forward
Various targets arrived at the SLBC meeting include ₹39,600 crore for MSMEs, ₹1,900 crore for education loans, ₹9,710 crore for housing, ₹410 crore for social infrastructure, ₹454 crore for renewable energy and ₹3,400 crore for farm mechanisation.
The Chief Minister said the priority sector would get ₹1.88 lakh crore, which is a hike of 10.88% over the corresponding figure in the previous year.
The bankers informed Mr. Jagan that they have reached 99.42% target for 2019-20 by providing loans amounting to ₹2,27,882 crore and in agriculture, 99.13% of target was achieved (₹1,13,997 crore disbursed against the targeted ₹1,15,000 crore).
Deputy Chief Minister Dharmana Krishna Das, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, SLBC Convenor and Bank of India general manager V. Brahmananda Reddy and NABARD CGM Sudhir Kumar were among those present.
RBI Regional Director Subrato Das participated through a video-conference from Hyderabad along with Union Bank of India Executive Director Dinesh Kumar Garg.
