Disbursement to loan ratio stands at 48%
The impoverished Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh remains laggard in utilising development funds sanctioned by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural development (Nabard).
Under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), Nabard advances credit to the state government for various rural infrastructure projects, including canal, roads, flood control, bridges and irrigation.
This financial year, Bundelkhand has posted a poor 48 per cent disbursement to loan ratio compared to other regions in Uttar Pradesh.
Under RIDF tranches for 2010-11, Bundelkhand was sanctioned total loans worth Rs 1,222 crore, of which the disbursement stood at only Rs 583 crore.
In comparison, the eastern, western and central UP regions fared much better with respective comparative figures of Rs 3,034 crore (Rs 1,866 crore), Rs 1,338 crore (Rs 857 crore) and Rs 1,141 crore (Rs 695 crore).
The consolidated disbursement to loan ratio for the state stood at 59 per cent with figures of Rs 6,736 crore (Rs 4,000 crore).
Bundelkhand is an arid zone comprising nine districts, including Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur, Chitrakoot, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Banda, Mirzapur and Sonebhadra. In fact, the region stretches across to the adjoining districts in Madhya Pradesh.
“We have suggested the state government to leverage our support to usher in a more balanced regional development with special focus on Bundelkhand,” Nabard UP Regional Office Chief General Manager D P Misra told Business Standard.
Meanwhile, a joint meeting of Nabard and senior state government officials was held today to discuss loan disbursement under RIDF.
The disbursement to drawable limit ratio for Uttar Pradesh stands at 68 per cent with figures of Rs 982 crore and Rs 1,440 crore, respectively. Drawable limit is the minimum utilisation target set for specific sectors, including irrigation, public works department, UP State Bridge Corporation, agriculture, animal husbandry and forest.
Agriculture department has the highest disbursement to drawable limit ratio at 96 per cent with corresponding figures of Rs 238 crore and Rs 248 crore, respectively.
“We are confident to achieve cent per cent disbursement to drawable limit target for the current fiscal ending March 2011,” UP principal secretary Anoop Mishra said.
