NABARD sets record in extending cr support to UP govt

Lucknow, Apr 1 (UNI) National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Uttar Pradesh unit, has made a record in extending its credit support to banks and the UP Government, besides continuing its efforts to seek economic prosperity to the rural people through its multifarious financial and non-financial activities in 2007-08.

District wise potential linked credit plans have been prepared for all the 70 UP districts by the bank for the year 2008-09 amounting to Rs 40,368 crore.

NABARD chief general manager Sukhbir Singh told mediapersons here that his organisation has provided loan assistance aggregating Rs 3030 crore to banks and the state government in the previous year as against the disbursement of Rs 2,428 crore in 2006-07, with a growth of 25 per cent.

Though Mr Singh maintained that due to non-existance of flourishing agriculture in the drought-hit Bundelkhand region, the bank has still managed to credited amount of over Rs 500 crore in the unflourished region.

''Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sent special team to Bundelkhand to assess the status of loan given to the farmers and starting a process to convert the short-term loan to mid-term loan beside reschuduling of the loan payments,'' he said.

He informed NABARD has taken up the challenge by creating a Watershed Development Fund with Rs 200 crore and UP has been allocated Rs 30 crore to bring an aggregated area of 56,000 hectare under participatory watershed development, mostly in the Bundelkhand region.

Mr Singh maintained that refinance support of Rs 1,175 crore was provided to various Rural Financial Institutions for long term agriculture and other rural non farm sector investments during 2007-08.

Besides, short-term credit limits of Rs 1,305 crore were sanctioned to the Cooperative Banks and RRBs for financing crop production activities, he said.

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