The Potential Linked Credit Plan (PLP) brought out by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) that projects a credit flow potential of ₹12,034.69 crore for Erode district for the year 2019-20 was released here on Saturday.
The credit flow for 2019-20 is 17.18 % higher than ₹10,270.20 crore estimated for 2018-19. The credit projection for agriculture sector is ₹6,559. 06 crore for 2019-20 as against ₹6,369.15 crore projected during 2018-19. It includes, crop loan for ₹3,868.05 crore and term loan for ₹1,315.54 crore. The credit projection for MSME sector is ₹3, 247.57 crore as against ₹1,884.61 crore projected for 2018-19.
The MSME growth in the district is projected 72% higher than previous year due to increase in expected number of units in automobiles, garments and food processing.
Collector C. Kathiravan, who release the plan document, said that the PLP has got vital inputs required for the planning by banks at branch level. He advised bankers to increase the credit to MSME sectors, term lending in agriculture as there is a good potential to promote horticulture, farm mechanisation, water saving devices and animal husbandry.
Sethuraman, Assistant General Manager, Reserve Bank of India said that the district has a good banking network with 400 branches and the overall credit-deposit ratio of the banks during 2017-18 which was more than 98% was more than the stipulated ratio of 60%. Thus, the banks can lend more to agriculture infrastructure in order to increase the farm income, he added.
C.R. Abuvarajan, Assistant General Manager, NABARD, briefed the credit potential of each sector and highlighted that banks should focus on lending under agricultural marketing infrastructure such as scientific construction of rural godowns and cold storages.
M. Chandrasekaran, Lead District Manager, Erode said the banks should increase the lending to self-help groups in order to achieve the target of ₹348 crore during 2018-19. Banks should also focus on lending under various schemes, he added.