The Hindu Business Line : Kerala state co-op bank to disburse Rs 350 cr

THE Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank Ltd. (KSCARDB) will disburse loans to the tune of Rs 350 crore in the current financial year.

Of this, Rs 205 crore will be made available for agricultural and industrial purposes alone, while Rs 120 crore has been earmarked for housing loans. Besides, Rs 25 crore will be disbursed under the gold loan scheme.

The bank is also set to launch "Swarozgar" credit cards in the current year. This is an integrated loan scheme designed for entrepreneurs engaged in handicrafts, weaving, fishing and service areas, featuring fixed capital and working capital for a total of Rs 50,000.

The bank will disburse Rs 50 crore in the current year by bringing 20,000 villagers under the scheme, According to Mr K. Sivadasan Nair, President of KSCARDB.

He said here on Monday that the bank has formulated a slew of loan schemes for the farm sector. These include loans for rubber sheet re-processing, vanilla cultivation, rainwater harvesting and purchase of agricultural lands.

A scheme for encouraging organic farming in the State is also in place. Apart from concessional interest rates, the farmers will be made available the assistance of the State Horticultural Board. Mr Nair said that the bank had made a profit of Rs 10.37 crore in 2002-03, representing an increase of 6 per cent over the previous year. The primary agricultural and rural development banks affiliated to KSCARDB will get a dividend of 11 per cent for the year.

He said the bank will reduce interest rates on those loans being refinanced by the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (Nabard). Also, to help drought-hit farmers, the minimum farm loan rate will be reduced form the existing 9 per cent to 8.5 per cent.

The new rates will be 8.50 per cent for loans up to Rs 25,000, 9 per cent for up to Rs 50,000, 10 per cent for loans between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2 lakh and 11 per cent for above Rs 2 lakh.

Web site launched: The bank has launched a Web site covering its entire activities and operations under the domain name, www.keralalandbank.org.

The site, designed and developed by Asianet Satellite Communications Ltd, will contain all the vital information of the apex bank and the primaries and the content will be updated periodically.

The important details include lending schemes and programmes, revised interest rates, annual reports, tenders and quotation notices and latest news on important policy changes.

More Stories on : Co-operatives | Kerala | Rural Development

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