Over Rs 47000 crore projected loan disbursement for Punjab farmers in 2013-14: FM
Tuesday, 05/03/2013
http://www.punjabnewsline.com/news/Over-Rs-47000-crore-projected-loan-disbursement-for-Punjab-farmers-in-2013_14_-FM.html
CHANDIGARH: More than Rs 47000 crore or 49 per cent of the total priority sector lending for 2013-14 in Punjab has been projected as loans to farmers for crop production and marketing.
Speaking at the launch of State Focus Paper during State Credit Seminar at JW Marriot Hotel on Tuesday, state finance and planning minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa stated that research and experience have shown that credit is an important determinant of value added in agriculture.
He said, “A quick assessment by the Reserve Bank of India on the relationship between institutional credit to agriculture, from commercial banks, cooperatives and RRBs, evidences positive and statistically significant elasticity - every 1 per cent increase in real agricultural credit results in an increase in real agricultural GDP by 0.22 per cent.
The minister said that launching the credit roadmap for the year 2013-14 was very critical for taking the growth story of agriculture and allied sectors of the state, forward.
The total priority sector lending for 2013-14 is projected at Rs 96,343 crore, which is an increase of over more than 17 per cent over the previous year’s projections and about 55 per cent increase over the actual disbursement during 2011-12. Out of this projected potential for the state, about 49 per cent or more than Rs 47,000 crore has been projected as loans to farmers for crop production and marketing, and about 17 per cent towards loans for SME sector.
The seminar was attended by delegates from the state government, banks, academic institutions and other agencies.
