Canara Bank consultancy to branch out

With the success of its Agricultural Consultancy Services (ACS), Canara Bank plans to strengthen it by conducting training programmes for other banks.

The bank so far through the ACS has handled 50 assignments, involving an aggregate outlay of Rs 467 crore.

These assignments relate to appraisal studies for areas like diary, diary processing, cold chain, aquaculture, plantations, floriculture, horticulture and poultry, said M B N Rao, chairman and managing director, Canara Bank in his director's report to bank shareholders.

Under the Kisan Credit Card scheme, the bank has issued 14.5 lakh (cumulative) cards as on March 2005, with credit coverage of Rs 4,181 crore.

Canara Bank has surged much ahead of its targetted 1.5 lakh cards by issuing 2.59 lakh cards.

Canara Bank, pioneers in the country on the concept of micro-finance by way of credit linking self help groups (SHGs), has so far credit linked 49,249 out of a total 73,439 SHGs in the country.

"The bank has attained 30 per cent incremental credit to agriculture sector by disbursing Rs 5,401 crore in financial year 2004-05," said Rao. The bank has brought an additional 3.18 lakh farmers under credit coverage during 2004-05.

Highlighting agriculture related achievements of the bank, he said the bank gave relief to 1.02 lakh farmers by re-phasing loans worth Rs 437 crore, financed 63 agri-clinics/agri-business centres with a disbursal of Rs 3.5 crore.

The bank has also launched 90 area specific schemes across the country for promoting investment credit to agriculture.