The Hindu Business Line : Allahabad Bank targets agri-credit above Rs 3,000 cr

ALLAHABAD Bank has set a target of Rs 3,016 crore as credit flow to the agriculture sector during the current fiscal, a three-fold increase from the previous fiscal's disbursement of Rs 848 crore.

The bank has also set a minimum target of 150,000 Kisan credit cards (KCCs) for 2004-2005 to cover and reach eligible farmers residing in the bank's service area villages. As per this plan, Allahabad Bank branches have been directed to bring a minimum of 200 new farmers per rural/semi-urban branch into the bank's fold against 100 farmers as directed by the Union Government.

"The branches have identified two-three investment projects in minor irrigation, tractors, medicinal plants, floriculture, plantation and horticulture, dairy, fishery for intensive financing," said Mr O.N. Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, Allahabad Bank.

He said the bank has put in place a multi-pronged strategy to achieve this growth target. The strategy includes sensitisation of branches; holding of farmer meets; reduction in interest rates; tie-ups with tractor manufacturers for financing farm machineries and implements; and the formulation of area-specific schemes for dairy farming, plantation, horticulture and minor irrigation.

Allahabad Bank is also exploring the possibility of providing credit for non-traditional agricultural activities based on the potential of the agro-climatic areas and the location-specific suitability, Mr Singh said. The bank has taken initiatives in making available the model bankable area-specific schemes for vermin composting, ornamental fish farming, fresh as well as brackish water prawn farming, horticulture and cold storage.

The bank also developed a scheme called `Kisan Shakti Yojana,' which has been integrated with KCC scheme to ensure supply of production credit through a common Kisan credit-cum-Kisan Shakti Card. The Kisan Shakti Yojana provides a line of credit to the farmer linked to the value of his land or five times the annual farm income of Rs 5 lakh (whichever amount is lower is repayable within seven years).

"The uniqueness of the scheme is that farmers need not contribute any cash margin, which is stipulated in any agriculture lending scheme for a loan above Rs 50,000 under the scheme," Mr Singh said.

Agriculture, he said, is one of the important sources of supplying raw materials to the industrial sector. "Although the services sector contributed 52 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP), agriculture sector continues to be the driver of our country's economic growth."

In the pre-reform year of 1988-89, the agriculture growth of 15.4 per cent helped our economy to clock an all-time high GDP growth of 10.5 per cent, he said.

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