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| Farm credit worth Rs 1.38 lakh cr disbursed in H1 |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Nov 19, 2009, 20:08 IST |
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Banks and co-operatives have disbursed farm loans to the tune of Rs 1.38 lakh crore in the first half of 2009-10, meeting over 42 per cent of the target set by the government for the whole financial year.
"Rs 1.38 lakh crore has been disbursed to farmers across the country as agriculture credit up to September, 2009.... The target to be achieved during 2009-10 is to the tune of Rs 3.25 lakh crore," an official statement said here today.
Of the farm loans offered till September, commercial banks account for 92,595.08 crore, co-operatives Rs 27,704.85 crore and regional rural banks Rs 17,531.31 crore, it added.
While the government has set a target of disbursing farm loans worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore for commercial banks, both co-operatives and regional rural banks are supposed to extend credit to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore, respectively, during this fiscal.
Presenting the Budget 2009-10, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had announced farm loans at a subsidised interest rate of six per cent for those who pay their dues in time and raised the agriculture sector credit target by 16 per cent to Rs 3,25,000 crore this fiscal.
At present, farm loans are extended at an interest rate of 7 per cent a year.
Mukherjee had said the Rs 71,000-crore debt waiver scheme, announced during the Budget 2008-09, would be extended by six months till December 31 this year in view of the delay in monsoon.
Institutional credit to the agriculture sector touched Rs 2,87,150 crore last year, exceeding the target of Rs 2,80,000 crore.
According to the provisional figures, commercial banks disbursed Rs 2,23,663 crore, which is 77.9 per cent of the total farm credit last year.
Among the commercial banks, public sector banks disbursed Rs 1,64,350 crore (57.2 per cent) whereas private banks lent Rs 59,313 crore (20.7 per cent) to the agriculture sector.
Cooperative banks gave credit worth Rs 36,762 crore (12.8 per cent) and RRBs Rs 26,724 crore (9.3 per cent) in 2008-09.
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