National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has estimated a credit potential of Rs 2,21,211.17 crore for West Bengal for financial year 2021-22 under the priority sectors.
“Of the total credit, the share of agriculture sector including agri-infrastructure and ancillary activities is 39.60%; MSME 44.04%; SHG-JLG 7.67%, housing sector 4.82%; education loans 1.64%; social infrastructure 1.05%; and the remaining 1.18% constitute export credit and renewable energy,” the bank said in a release on Thursday.
Notably, crop loan constitutes 64.93% of the total agriculture credit and 25.71% of the total priority sector credit potential.
Nabard organised State Credit Seminar on Thursday to discuss credit potential for the state during the next financial year. The bank prepares Potential Linked Credit Plan (PLP) annually, for each district through a consultative process for facilitating realistic credit planning and credit dispensation for priority sector activities.
The theme for this year’s State Focus Paper (2021-22) was “Collectivization of Agricultural Produce for Enhancing Farmer’s Income”. In view of the predominantly small land holdings in the country, Nabard has been espousing this cause for leveraging the collective strength of the producers to achieve higher income through better bargaining power and higher price realizsation.
Speaking on the occasion, chief general manager, AR Khan, Nabard, mentioned that the West Bengal government has taken significant initiatives in recent past, resulting in multi-dimensional growth in the state’s economy.
“However, credit alone, is not going to serve the purpose. A credit plus approach supplemented with the efforts of all the stakeholders should be channelized for a faster and holistic development of the state.”