NABARD Estimates Rs 1.46 Lakh Crore Credit Potential for Kerala in State Focus Paper

The credit potential of the State Focus paper of the year 2019-20, prepared by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) contains the State Credit Plan with an estimated credit potential of ₹1, 46,163 crores. Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan released the ‘State Focus Paper’ on exploitable credit potential on Tuesday at Thiruvananthapuram.

The state credit plan is an aggregation of potential linked plans prepared for all the 14 districts by NABARD in consultation with the state government, banks and other stakeholders and forms the base for the preparation of annual credit plans by banks. Agriculture and allied sectors account for Rs 69,303 crore, MSME sector Rs 41,090 crore and other priority sectors Rs 35,770 crore out of the total estimated credit potential of Rs 1, 46,163 crores.

Inaugurating the Seminar' Chief Minister said that his government intends to rebuild a state which can withstand calamities like the flood which the State faced last year. The Chief Minister sought the support of all sections for rebuilding the State that had been ravaged by the flood. The flood had washed away the top soil and landslips would change the structure and topography of the land in many districts, he said. Technological advancements in research should go hand-in-hand for development of agriculture, Chief Minster said. He also said the rebuilding exercise must be undertaken by utilising the knowledge from across the world.

According to him “the development of Kerala means an all-inclusive development based on social justice that reaches out to every aspect of the society adding it was not possible to compare the Kerala with other states in India. In other states, development might be focused only at major cities and the surrounding places in the region, he said. But in Kerala, from the northern end to the southern end of the state, the living standards are same, the chief minister said.

In his keynote address Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar said that the post-flood damage affected around 1.47 lakh hectares of crops affecting nearly 4 lakh farmers of the state. The minister said after the concerted efforts of the state government, more farmers are coming under the insurance schemes of Central and state governments mainly after the devastating floods, after the concerted efforts of the state government.