Mitra, Mundra differ on perception on agri-loan rise in Bengal

Former deputy governor of RBI S S Mundra today said West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra's statement on the benefit of the rise in agriculture loan to farmers in the state could not be a "game changer".
Mitra, speaking at the AGM of BCCI here today, said that the quantum of agri-loan given to the farmers of the state had increased substantially.
He said that this was evident from the rise in Kisan Credit Cards given to them by the banks as well as loans extended to them.
This is good for the state's economy, he said.
To this, Mundra said "this is all good. But this can't be a game-changer. This is all incremental and not a great leap forward".

Mundra said credit extended to fragmented land holdings would not become productive. "What is required is aggregation of land holdings and introduction of contract farming and establishment of chain linkages".
Besides, the distribution of agricultural credit across the country in skewed and uneven, Mundra said.