Bankers in Karnataka on Wednesday agreed to reschedule the loans of grape and pomegranate growers, who have been hit by natural calamity over the past few years.

At the State Level Bankers’ Meet, they also agreed to extend a fresh line of credit to these farmers, following the intervention of the State government.

The grape and pomegranate farmers, mainly from the northern districts of the State, who have suffered crop losses due to floods and diseases such as bacterial blight, owe a total of over ₹1357 crore, including the penal interest, to banks.

The banks, so far, have been denying fresh loans to the grape and pomegranate growers for non-payment of earlier loans.

Govt intervention

Addressing the bankers, State Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee stressed on the need to reschedule the loans to the grape and pomegranate growers and also extend a fresh line of credit so that they could take up fresh cultivation of crops. He said the farmers were not wilful defaulters and that the banks need to help them to stay in farming.

Mukherjee also called upon the bankers to gear up for implementing the comprehensive financial inclusion scheme that is expected to be announced on August 15. The proposed scheme aims to provide banking access to people in rural and urban areas, particularly the weaker sections and low income groups.

M Anjaneya Prasad, Executive Director of Syndicate Bank, the lead bank in the State, said that banks in Karnataka have disbursed ₹21,663 crore during the first quarter of the fiscal against the annual target of ₹89,821 crore.

Disbursals for the agriculture sector stood at ₹14,277 crore against the annual target of ₹57,247 crore.

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