Even as political sparks continue to fly thick and fast between Samajwadi Party and the Congress, Union finance minister P Chidambaram, the senior-most Cabinet minister in the UPA government, gave a thumbs up to the Akhilesh Yadav government?s progressive development agenda in Uttar Pradesh and assured him all help from the Centre.

?I assure the chief minister, his team and ?Netaji? (Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav) that the government of India will stand by the UP government in its development efforts,? he said after inaugurating the state?s 300 bank branches, in Lucknow on Friday, adding that ?UP is, in many, ways, the most important state. UP?s development and progress will determine the country?s progress?.

Stating that the opening of 300 branches was a unique statistic, he said it was like scoring a triple century in a cricket match. ?It is a unique and extraordinary event as never before have 300 branches been inaugurated in one day. The highest so far is 100 bank branches in one day,? he said.

Agreeing to the fact that UP has large financial needs, Chidambaram said that it is only right that the state?s annual plan has risen steadily from R39,000 crore in 2009-10 to R57,000 crore in 2012-13. ?UP?s proposals for enhanced Central help for development projects were discussed today and I have promised that all proposals, even those of other ministries, will be vetted within the next two weeks, after which we will invite the CM and his team to Delhi to discuss them,? he said.

Talking about the 24 Centrally-sponsored schemes of R150 crore and above that are running in UP in various sectors, such as petroleum, power, road transport, highways and telecommunications, Chidambaram said that the Centre?s outlay for these is R18,550 crore, out of which R11,250 crore has been spent till the middle of last year.

Stating that there is a rising demand for opening new branches in the country, Chidambaram said that ?on an average, 6,000 branches are being opened every year. We have come out with a roadmap of opening 2,700 new bank branches in UP alone in 2013-14, thus bringing UP to the national average of one bank on a population of 13,000 from its present status of one bank of every 16,000 people?.

Hoping that bankers would respond positively to the rise in demand, he said it is but natural that the demand increases. ?Bank branches are important for many reasons. People complain that they cannot open their bank account. If there is no bank branch, say, within 10-km radius, how do you open a bank account?” Chidambaram asked.

?Branches are important as that will address the low credit-deposit ratio issue, loan disbursal of loans as well as financial inclusion by mobilising peoples? savings. I am very happy that now there is a rising demand to open a bank branch in our towns and villages. I am sure that the bankers will respond to it. I am sure that in 2013-14 all our banks will open a large number of branches. In UP alone there is a plan to open another 2,700 branches. If you can do it in UP, you would be able to do at least 10,000 to 12,000 branches all over the country. I want all the bankers to put their best efforts to achieve the target,” he said.