HUBLI: Banks in the district have disbursed loans to the tune of Rs. 279.51 crores as against a target of Rs. 184.85 crores during the first quarter of the financial year. The figures were released at a district-level review committee and district consultative committee meeting chaired by Chief Executive Officer of the Dharwad Zilla Panchayat K.S. Umapathi.

Banks have done extremely well in disbursing loans to small-scale industries with disbursements of Rs. 20.15 crores as against the target of Rs. 9.24 crores.

In priority sector lending, banks have registered an achievement of 94 per cent. They have disbursed loans of Rs. 132.71 crores against a target of Rs. 141.81 crores. In the agriculture sector, the achievement rate is 81 per cent.

Although banks have disbursed Rs. 40.07 crores as crop loans in the first quarter and made significant advances in the minor irrigation, land development, farm mechanisation, plantation and horticulture sectors, not much progress has been made in the Kisan Credit Card distribution.

Under the Artisan Credit Card Scheme and the Swarozgar Credit Card Scheme, banks other than the Malaprabha Grameen Bank (MGB), which is now part of the Karnatak Grameen Vikas Bank, have not reported any financing. The MGB has distributed 69,000 cards with a financial limitation of Rs. 1.5 crore under these two schemes.

Focus areas

Mr. Umapathi asked officers to give more importance to agriculture and allied activities.

There has been a flurry of activities in agriculture and allied fields owing to abundant rainfall this year after four years of drought, he said. He also asked officials to take note of the present scenario before chalking out plans.

District Divisional Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dharwad, S.H. Kulkarni, underscored the need for giving priority to minor irrigation projects. He also said that importance must be given to land development, farm mechanisation, dairy development and storage marketing.

Gautam Sarkar, Assistant General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Bangalore; Dinesh Chandra Hegde, Deputy General Manager, Vijaya Bank; and C.K. Parthasarathi, Manager, District Lead Bank, were present.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail