NABARD launches Rs 1,918 cr area development plan for Punjab

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) today announced area development plans worth Rs 1,918 crore for Punjab to supplement farmers' income.
"We have prepared area development plans to the tune of Rs 1,918 crore only for Punjab," NABARD Chief General Manager (Punjab), Deepak Kumar said at the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting here.
"Under this plan, the activities like dairy, vegetable cultivation, bee keeping, mushroom growing will be promoted in order to provide income to farmers at sustainable basis," he said.
Earlier, addressing the gathering, Kumar raised concerns over the plummeting investment credit in Punjab, asking banks to focus on the area.

He blamed the lack of information among farmers and lack of coordination among government departments and banks for the decline in the investment credit growth.
"The investment credit growth in Punjab went down from 37 per cent in 2013-14 to 18 per cent in 2016-17 while the overall investment credit growth in India has gone up from 25 to 35 per cent," he said.
"It indicates that banks in our state are not giving adequate attentions towards agriculture term lending. Around 32 per cent of the total agriculture lending should be for investment credit," he added.