Haryana Agri Bank to advance Rs 400 cr loans

Chandigarh, June 3 (UNI) The Haryana State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank has a plan to advance loans of Rs 400 crore during the current financial year under various schemes.

''These loans will be provided in the areas of minor irrigation, farm mechanisation, land development, dairy development, horticulture, farm forestry, rural housing, purchase of land and non-farm sector,'' the bank's spokesman said here today.

He said that a sum of Rs 75 crore would be provided for minor irrigation, Rs 60 crore for farm mechanisation, Rs 8 crore for land development, Rs 62 crore for dairy development including cattle sheds, Rs 50 crore for land purchase, Rs 40 crore for rural housing and Rs 30 crore for the non-farm sector.

The bank also plans to give Rs 20 crore for horticulture and farm forestry, Rs 5 crore for rural godowns and Rs 50 crore for schemes in other areas, he added.

The main objective of the bank was to provide long term credit to the agriculturists through District Agriculture and Rural Development Banks and their branches, the spokesman said adding that there was also a plan to set up a new branch of District Agriculture and Rural Development Bank at village Behal in Bhiwani district.

He said that the bank would diversify its loaning portfolio and more stress would be laid on advancement of loans under schemes like Capital Venture Fund for dairy and poultry processing, organic input, micro irrigation, rural educational infrastructure, rural tourism, water harvesting scheme for farmers belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and for modern farm equipment.

As a result of the introduction of recovery linked incentive scheme, remission of interest would be given to those farmers who were defaulters on June 30, 2006, provided they repay the due principal amount by June 30 this year, the spokesman added.

UNI