The Dharwad-headquartered regional rural bank, Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank (KVGB), has launched an overdraft (OD) facility for farmers.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘Kirishi OD’ scheme designed for farmers, P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of the bank, said that the farmers are provided with an OD facility based on the value of the land. The limit is capped to a maximum of ₹1.5 lakh per acre to irrigated lands and ₹1 lakh per acre to dry land.

The facility can be used for working capital requirements such as maintenance of machinery and equipment, repair and replacement of machinery, agricultural allied activities and even for the repayment of private loans availed for personal use.

He said the uncontrolled weather, escalating natural disasters, and the current Covid situation have made farmers vulnerable. “To ease the situation, KVGB has designed a special OD facility for the farmers to help them to cope with the situation,” he added.

Neeraja Kumara Verma, Chief General Manager of NABARD, who launched the scheme in Dharwad, said that credit flow is essential for the growth of the agriculture sector and regional rural banks (RRBs) are doing well in this regard. He said the ‘Krishi OD’ facility is a unique scheme and will benefit the farming community.

Verma said that NABARD is keenly watching the progress and involvement of RRBs and extending timely guidance and support. “RRBs are doing well under priority sector lending, formation and linkage of SHGs and JLGs and even in managing microfinance matters.”

A press release by KVGB said that he lauded the efforts of KVGB in matters related to financial inclusion.

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