BoB to increase agri sector disbursement in Gujarat

To disburse Rs 1,285cr for sector in current fiscal.

Leading public sector bank, Bank of Baroda (BoB) is planning to increase its y-o-y disbursement for Gujarat’s agriculture sector by 33 per cent.

The bank is targeting to disburse Rs 1,285 crore to farmers in Gujarat by the end of March 2009. The bank has prepared an action plan for the agriculture sector of all 26 districts.

The bank has adopted 25 villages in the state under its centenary year celebrations, under which it proposes to sanction loans to the tune of Rs 90 crores over the next 3 years.

Besides, the bank would be spending Rs 50 to 75 lakh in these villages for developmental activities like library, drinking water facility, shelter among others, in consultation with local governance bodies and NGOs.

The villages identified include Aspur, Kheroli, Gajna, Munjkuva, Jalalpura, Mindhol, dhanpore, Uchedia, Chival, Barkhandhiya, Bhulafalia, Dhanori, Sindi, Panchela, Pipli, Hirapur, Prabhatpur, Mubarakpura, Sadatpur, Kanpur, Timbi, Kochada, Pipalia, Antapur and Ariyana.

"The bank has given a benefit of Rs 34.13 crores to 18,807 farmers in the state under debt waiver scheme and Rs 34.06 crores to 16,460 farmers under OTS scheme announced by the government of India. Besides, Bank of Baroda also proposes to start 4 new training centres at Anand, Baroda, Bharuch and Valsad during the curren financial year in addition to existing 3 centres at Gandhinagar, Godhra and Surat," said GG Joshi, general manager, Gujarat operations, BoB.

"The bank, which has 924 farmers clubs in the state, is also appointing “Business Facilitators” in the state including NGOs like Anarde for extending loans in rural areas," Joshi added.

The bank has already covered its all 4,096 service area villages under 100 per cent financial inclusion. As on March 2008, the total deposits of the Bank in Gujarat was at Rs 26,371 crores and number of branches stood at 664.