Nabard sanctions Rs 1,500 cr for Punjab to ensure credit flow to farmers

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 1,500 crore for Punjab to ensure continuous credit flow to farmers, through state cooperative banks, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is part of Nabard's Rs 25,000 crore nationwide special liquidity facility (SLF), which has been made available to state cooperative banks, regional rural banks, and microfinance institutions (MFIs), to ensure flow of credit to farmers for agricultural operations during COVID-19 pandemic, a release said.

"Nabard has sanctioned a sum of Rs 1,500 crore, out of which an amount of Rs 1,000 crore has been sanctioned to Punjab State Cooperative Bank and Rs 500 crore to Punjab Gramin Bank," Nabard Chief General Manager (Punjab Regional Office) J P S Bindra said.

Nabard has so far disbursed Rs 1,000 crore to Punjab State Cooperative Bank and Rs 100 crore to Punjab Gramin Bank for supporting agricultural and other activities of farmers, he said in the release.

Bindra said this is a front-loaded liquidity support provided to these banks with a view to ensure credit flow to farmers for carrying out agricultural operations for kharif crops smoothly during this difficult situation.