PACS get Rs 1008 crore Nabard aid

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has released Rs 1,008 crore towards recapitalisation assistance to 3,200 primary agriculture credit societies (PACS) in the state, based on the assurance given by the state government that it would introduce cooperative reforms as suggested by the Vaidyanathan Committee.

Nabard chief general manager – Tamil Nadu R Narayan said of the 4,500 PACS, 3,000 had got the funding. The total released amount was 75 per cent of the total commitment by the Centre. The remaining 25 per cent, or Rs 250-300 crore, will be released once elected representatives of these societies take over the board and a professional chief executive officer is appointed.

Tamil Nadu released its share of Rs 230 crore.

The recapitalisation will help PACS clean their balance sheets and increase capital adequacy ratio to seven per cent. “Currently we are in the process of assessing the real loss of these PACs through a special audit,” said Narayan.

The audit would help assess how much more fund would be required.

He said the state was sanctioned Rs 850 crore under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund in 2009-10.