Haryana Bank Plans Rs 1050cr Crop Loans

The Haryana State Cooperative Bank (Harco) will distribute crop loans worth Rs 1,050 crore to the farmers during 1996-97. Speaking to reporters yesterday, state food minister Ganeshi Lal said the bank was expected to earn a record profit of Rs 25 crore this year against a profit of Rs 18.85 crore last year.

The bank serves farmers, rural artisans, farm workers and small entrepreneurs. It has 13 branches and 17 affiliated central co-operative banks with 291 branches and 2,288 mini banks all over Haryana. The mini banks have 20.23 lakh members.

The farmers are availing the cash portion of their maximum credit limit from the branches of the central cooperative banks. The kind portion, which includes fertilisers and pesticides is being availed from the mini banks.

The banks deposits in December 1996 stood at Rs 456.46 crore. About Rs 490.14 crore was borrowed from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) till December 1996. The working capital of the bank touched Rs 1156.30 crore.

Lal said the bank will advance Rs 200 crore to ten cooperative sugar mills through the central cooperative banks for working capital requirements.

The bank has also granted credit limit of Rs 60 crore to Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (Hafed) during 1996-97 for procurement, distribution and sale of chemical fertilisers.

The central cooperative banks have recently undertaken some new schemes to provide loan facilities to the borrowers.

The nwe schemes include loan against gold ornaments up to Rs 40,000, purchase of consumer durables up to Rs 30,000, cash credit facility to businessmen against collateral or hypothecation of stock-in-trade upto Rs 2 lakh, loans to students to pursue professional degree courses in engineering and medicine up to Rs 50,000 and loans to individuals upto Rs 5 lakh for purchase of auto-rickshaw, taxi-cars, motor buses and light commercial vehicles among others.

Temporary overdraft facilities to individuals upto Rs 25,000 and advances against National Savings Certificates (NSC) upto Rs 1 lakh have also been included in the new schemes.

Lal said the crop loan of Rs 3.06 crore in three districts - Gurgaon, Faridabad and Rewari was being converted into medium term loan in the wake of last years floods which affected the kharif crops.