Karnataka   

Bank stands first in lending loans

Chitradurga: The Pragati Grameen Bank has stood first in the country for lending loans, which has enabled the construction of the maximum number of warehouses in the State, bank chairman N. Ramesh has said.

Presenting the half-yearly performance report of the bank here on Thursday, he said that the bank which was working in eight districts of the State, had lent over Rs. 30 crore for setting up more than 500 warehouses.

Mr. Ramesh said that after the construction of the warehouses, farmers had received better prices for their produce as they could store foodgrains for longer periods of time.

“They have received 25 per cent more this year for paddy in some districts,” he said.

The bank had given loans to the tune of Rs. 170 core to farmers against pledging of produce this year, he said.

It has a client base of around 23 lakh and it had opened 8.29 lakh “zero balance” accounts.

The bank had opened branches in 85 per cent of the villages. This was to make the villages free from private money lenders he added.

The bank had reduced interest rates by half per cent on loans availed by women, besides giving a quarter per cent more interest on their savings, he said. Mr. Ramesh said that the bank was negotiating with the Urban Development Authorities of various districts to enter into an agreement to provide loans at reduced interest rates for farmers purchasing plots.

He said that the bank had financed the setting up of 615 farmers’ clubs in eight districts, which would be increased to 1,000 soon.

The clubs were constituted to educate farmers about various financial benefits being offered by the bank and other schemes to help them.

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