Co-op bank raises crop loan target 53 per cent

Around 6.5 lakh new farmers would be eligible for fresh loans after the debt waiver scheme.

As a result the overall credit to the agriculture and allied activities is set to increase by 40 per cent in FY09.

"For 2008-09, the total loan target is Rs 2,250 crore, about 40 per cent more than Rs 1,600 crore disbursed in 2007-08," said Samir Ghosh, chairman, WBSCB.

However, the chairman expressed his concern on the account of the dismal recovery situation in the state following the announcement of the debt waiver scheme.

"The Short Term Co-operative Credit Structure (STCCS) in the state is facing a huge problem owing to a dismal recovery situation following the announcement of the debt waiver scheme. The crop loan recovery per cent in the state came down to 56.11 per cent as on 31 March, 2008 from 70.76 per cent a year ago," he said.

About 3.5 lakh new farmers turned defaulters this year and went out of the system expecting another debt waiver scheme.

Meanwhile the STCCS has demanded the reimbursement of the loan waiver amount of Rs 575.99 crore, associated with the cooperative sector by early September. "We need this money early to meet the crop loan target this year", Ghosh told the media after the central co-operative banks' conference here, 50km west of Kolkata.