Bhubaneswar: Expressing concern over the poor performance of banks in providing farm loans, Agriculture Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo Wednesday asked bankers to expedite the process of providing loans to agro-entrepreneurs.
Attending the Agri-Entrepreneurship and Banker’s Conclave here, Sahoo said, as per RBI guidelines, banks should provide 18 per cent of total loan target of a year for agriculture sector. But, the performance of banks operating in Odisha is poor as compared to other states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Punjab, he said.
“The state government is taking a lot of initiatives and also providing 3 per cent interest subvention for doubling the farmers’ income. Therefore, banks should come forward to provide loans to agriculture sector,” Sahoo said.
Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana (MKUY) has been launched to promote enterprises in agriculture and allied sector. Under the scheme, around 40-50 per cent of capital investment subsidy, subject to a limit of Rs 50 lakh, is being provided to entrepreneurs, he said, adding, around 92 types of projects have been enlisted for support under the scheme.
The Agriculture department has provided a total subsidy of Rs 30 crore out of Rs 42 crore under the MKUY so far, he pointed out. However, the bankers are not sanctioning loans to the applicants. The government has so far issued approval for 1,538 applicants under the scheme, of which banks have sanctioned only 377 projects and rejected 270 applications. At least 891 applications are still pending with the banks, he stated.
Stating that the state government has set a target to set up 500 agro-entrepreneur units under MKUY with a loan support of Rs 200 crore during 2021-22, the minister asked the bank authorities to sanction the pending application under the scheme.
