| The Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP) has earmarked about Rs 1,200 crore for the the agriculture sector in the states of the north.
|
| |
| The bank has funded about Rs 600 crore and the rest would be disbursed by March 2008. The bank financed Rs 419 crore last year under agriculture credit. This leapfrog under the agriculture credit was the result of commercialisation of agriculture in the region.
|
| |
| Managing Director and CEO of the bank Shailendra Bhandari said the bank had a team of 250 agriculture graduates to apprise the farmers about the innovative techniques of farming, which could get them better returns.
|
| |
| He said the stagnation in the agricultural incomes in the past few years could be overcome if the agricultural funding was coupled with technological upgrade. And for this the bank would hire another 100 agri graduates by March 2008 to meet the target of higher agri lending, he added.
|
| |
| Also, in order to include small and marginal farmers, the bank was considering to boost cooperative farming in the near future.
|
| |
| The bank had funded about 20,000 farmers in north and expected to add around 20,000-25,000 more farmers in the next year.
|
| |
| Bhandari said over 1,000 SMEs were financed by the bank in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh and Rs 430 crore was disbursed in the last one year.
|
| |
| He added that the direct bank lending was being made to eliminate the middlemen who fleece the farmers.
|
| |
| The bank has 20 licences to open new branches. and it is open to both organic and inorganic growth. The bank registered a growth of 70 per cent from March 06 to March 07, he added.
|
| |
| He said the low frill account was introduced for the weaker sections of society and would be simplified further to make it more user friendly. |
| |
|
| |
Content Guide
