Banks in Karnataka have disbursed Rs 27,512 crore under priority sector credit during the first half of this fiscal against the revised annual target of Rs 46,027 crore, recording an achievement level of 60 per cent, according to data released by the State-level bankers' committee (SLBC) - Karnataka.
The advance to agriculture sector was Rs 49,233 crore comprising 18.49 per cent of the total credit, which is above the stipulated level of 18 per cent. Under the agriculture sector, through rapid action plan and special campaign mode, banks have disbursed Rs 15,610 crore up to September 30, against the revised annual target of Rs 31,308 crore, recording an achievement level of 50 per cent.
The share of crop production loan was Rs 11,253 crore amounting to 55 per cent achievement of the prescribed target of Rs 20,388 crore. Over five lakh new farmers received credit assistance of Rs 3,781 crore.
Under secondary and tertiary sectors, disbursements stood at Rs 5,283 crore and Rs 6,619 crore, respectively. Speaking on the implementation of the revised annual credit plan, Mr Basant Seth, Chairman – SLBC Karnataka and Chairman and Managing Director, Syndicate Bank, said that the Government has launched one more ‘Special Campaign' from December 1- 15 this year for lending to eligible borrowers in rural areas.
He urged banks and the State administration to ensure that all eligible borrowers in villages were provided credit limit.
In its State Focus Paper for 2011-12, Nabard had estimated a credit flow potential of Rs 41,085 crore under priority sector lending for fiscal 2011-12, an increase of about 10 per cent over the previous year.
The share of crop loan was Rs 18,374 crore (45 per cent) of the estimated potential, followed by other priority sector at Rs 11,792 crore (29 per cent), agricultural term loan of Rs 7,554 crore (18 per cent), and non-farm sector of Rs 3,365 crore (8 per cent).
Officials at the Karnataka regional office of Nabard point out that the credit flow in the State witnessed a steep rise during 2010-11 too, registering a 28 per cent growth.