The Hindu Business Line : TN urged to allot land for development projects

The Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has urged the State Government to expedite the allocation of land for various development projects to accelerate the process of development in the State.

He was speaking after laying the foundation for the Farmers Training Centre (FTC) of PNB Farmers' Welfare Trust of Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Sunday.

On the direction to banks to double agriculture credit to Rs 1,70,000 crore within three years, he said that the progress has been quicker than targeted. He lauded PNB for extending 32 per cent of total credit to agriculture.

The Minister explained the various functional features of the proposed FTC and urged the farmers to make the best use of the facility.

He announced a sanction of Rs 16 lakh from the MP Local Area Development Fund for acquiring a mobile soil testing laboratory.

The Executive Director of PNB, Mr K. Raghuraman, said that the proposed centre was the first by PNB in the South; seven FTCs have been established in the North.

As of March 2006, the bank's total business stood at Rs 1,94,312 crore. The total deposits stood at Rs 1,19,685 crore, while total credit was Rs 74,627 crore. Net profit period stood at Rs 1,439 crore.

More than 67 per cent of the bank's branches are in rural and semi-urban areas.

Referring to Tamil Nadu, he said that there are 108 branches with total business of over Rs 5,880 crore and a customer base in excess of six lakh.

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