Andhra CM Urges Bankers to Focus on Disbursing Farm Loans and Providing KCC to Farmers

On Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy urged bankers to focus on disbursing agriculture term loans and providing Kisan Credit Cards to farmers who have not yet received them. 

The Chief Minister said that tenant farmers should be able to obtain loans and banking services at 4240 Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBK) and urged the banks to finish them as soon as possible. 

In an address to the 217 State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) on Tuesday, the Chief Minister encouraged the bankers to offer Rs.35000 as a loan at 3% interest to women for the housing scheme, as well as to focus on providing loans for TIDCO houses. 

He stated that 1.78 lakh out of 8.3 lakh MSME accounts have been reformed and urged banks to facilitate them with one-time loan account restructuring. 

According to the Chief Minister, the momentum of the country's economic recovery is ramping up, with the GDP growth rate for the second quarter of the fiscal year standing at 8.4% and the total growth rate for the first half standing at 13.7%. 

Despite his concerns about the third wave of the Covid pandemic caused by the Omicron variant, the Chief Minister stated that the economy is anticipated to rise otherwise. He however, hoped that the possibility of the third Covid wave would have little impact on the economy. 

The Chief Minister stated that the importance of credit growth cannot be overstated at this juncture, and that the national-level bank credit of scheduled commercial banks would reach Rs.112 lakh crores on November 5, 2021, exhibiting a healthy growth rate of 7.1%. 

He said the burden of Rs.30000 crore was laid on the state government as a result of the Covid epidemic, and that the state government government was able to ameliorate the situation with the assistance of the banking industry, for which he praised the bankers. 

According to Jagan Mohan Reddy, banks annual loan plan was Rs.283380 crore, of which 60.53 percent which is Rs.171520 crore, was issued in the first six months alone.Similarly, the annual loan target for priority sectors was Rs.213560 crore, of which 47.29 percent or Rs.100990 crore, was disbursed by banks in the first six months of this year, and the government appreciated the banks for their assistance. 

The Chief Minister stated that Rs.12243 crore is necessary for the establishment of 16 medical and 16 nursing colleges across the state, and he encouraged banks to lend to the state government. He requested that ATMs to be built in Village Secretariats and RBKs. The bankers stated that they will deploy ATMs at few locations as a pilot project and then expand. 

Raj Kiran Rai, MD and CEO of Union Bank and President of SLBC, praised the government's welfare initiatives and assured bankers of their support. 

SLBC convenor V. Barhmananda Reddy said farmers are being benefited as the state government has been paying timely interest for loans under the 'YSR Sunna Vaddi' scheme and added that the activity of banking has been increased due to the initiatives of the state government.