Prioritise bringing back farmers into the credit system: Fadnavis to banks

Maharashtra priority credit plan outlay up by 13.6% for FY18

Seeking priority to using farm loans for creating durable assets, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that banks should focus on bringing back farmers forced out of the formal credit system in the current financial year.    

The annual priority sector credit plan for 2017-18, prepared by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), pegged an outlay of Rs 3,36,433 crore, a 13.6 per cent rise over 2016-17. Out of the total outlay, advances including crop credit and investment is pegged at Rs 86,836 crore in FY18, up from Rs 81,468 crore in FY17.  

The tally of those moved out of the system is higher than those who came in. Banks and credit institutions must look at sustainable ways to give loans to them and also make them credit-worthy, Fadnadvis said after the presentation of the credit plan.

The adverse effects of a poor monsoon on households engaged in farming have to be brought down to a bare minimum. Rains have been good in 2016-17 and even if they are average this year, the state will come out of the ensuing agricultural distress, assured the chief minister.

Finances for creating infrastructure for the farming sector saw a six-fold growth from Rs 5,249 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 34,372 crore in 2015-16. In the same period, crop loans have more than doubled to Rs 42,173 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 19,178 crore in 2011-12.

The rise in loans for investments in agriculture is beneficial and lenders should adopt a 360-degree view to expand their ambit to cover post-harvesting management, he added.