Mamata urges banks to hike agriculture, SME credit in Bengal
December 11th, 2011 - 12:57 am ICT by IANS
Kolkata, Dec 10 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday urged public sector banks to increase the flow of credit to agriculture and micro and small enterprises sectors in the state.
“I would request the banks to look into the following issues. There is low credit for agriculture. Forty percent of the demand is achieved. This needs to be raised significantly,” Banerjee said in a meeting with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, chief ministers of east zone states and chiefs of the public sector banks here.
“Low credit flow to the micro and small enterprises is a matter of concern. It is only 48 percent of credit requirement of my state. Annual credit plan target for the micro and small enterprises sector must be raised in West Bengal. It has been fixed at Rs.9,000 crore- far below the annual credit requirement of Rs.15,000 crore in 2011,” she said.
She said loan facility per self help groups (SHG) in the state, which stood at Rs.44,000 crore, was still way below the national average of Rs.58,000 crore.
“1.55 lakh SHGs are waiting for bank finance in West Bengal. This can lead to serious problems for the SHG movement in our state. Banks must address this vital need urgently,” Banerjee said.
Suggesting major banks to pick a district and select a sector in the district to create entrepreneurs there, she said: “I understand that in some developed nations, models like ‘unit banking’ had created and nurtured entrepreneurs from the grass-root level, who later became global players.”
“I would be very happy if captains of banks and financial institutions consider this suggestion seriously,” Banerjee added.
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- Pranab ask states, banks to extend banking access to all (Lead) - Jun 28, 2010
- Nabard estimates Rs.41,085 crore credit flow in Karnataka - Dec 21, 2010
- Problems of Bengal small/medium industries being probed: Minister - Jul 11, 2011
- NABARD registers 24.2 percent loan growth in Bengal (Lead) - Apr 04, 2012
- Empowering lives, transforming villages - the self-help way (March 8 is International Women's Day) - Mar 07, 2012
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- Finance Minister promises to strengthen regional rural banks - Feb 28, 2011
- Bengal favours credit cards for MSMEs - Sep 14, 2011
- Econonomic Survey says bank credit has grown by 13.9 per cent - Feb 25, 2010
- Bengal emerging as new investment destination: Pranab - Apr 01, 2012
- Farm credit flow exceeds target in 2010: Pranab Mukherjee - Jul 06, 2010
- SBI to open new SME branches in Bengal - Apr 27, 2012
Tags: bank finance, chief minister, chief ministers, credit flow, developed nations, east zone, financial institutions, global players, grass root level, kolkata, loan facility, mamata banerjee, pranab mukherjee, public sector banks, self help groups, state banks, target, union finance minister, unit banking, west bengal