Banks in Odisha achieve 28 % of annual credit plan

Banks operating in the state continue to give short shrift when it comes to advancing loans to the priority sectors.

The banks have disbursed only Rs 11,229.83 crore loan to different sectors as on September end, which is 28.07 per cent against the projected credit plan target of Rs 40,001.01 crore for the year.

The achievement for the agriculture and allied sector (direct) is 6702.09 crore, about 31.26 per cent of the credit target of Rs 21,442.78 crore fixed for the current financial year. For the agriculture and allied sector (indirect), the disbursement is 65.75 per cent of the target of Rs 1,532.37 crore.

The credit to micro and small enterprises, education and housing sectors are abysmally low. As on September end, the disbursement to education sector is just 6.89 per cent against the target of Rs 1,000.13 crore earmarked for the year.

Similarly, the achievement for MSE and housing sector is 37.91 per cent and 17.99 per cent of the targets of Rs 5,719.13 crore and Rs 2,225.91 crore respectively. For other priority sector, the disbursement is Rs 882.60 crore in the first six months, about 10.92 per cent of Rs 8,080.49 crore allocated for the sector. The State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) has taken a serious note of the low disbursal by the banks.

It may be noted that bowing to the state government's pressure to enhance annual credit requirement projections for 2014-15, the SLBC had approved revised credit projections of Rs 40,001.01 crore.

Initially, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) had pegged the credit requirement for the state at Rs 36,959.92 crore for the current fiscal.

The SLBC has asked all the controlling heads of the banks and LDMs (lead district managers) to ensure that the target allocated is achieved before March 31, 2015.

"Banks are advised to accelerate investment credit for agriculture and allied activities for growth sustainable growth of priority sector lending to increase food production and productivity in Odisha", read the SLBC report.