With the ban on single-use plastics coming into effect from January 1, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami Thursday urged banks to offer loans to plastic manufacturing firms to enable them take up other business opportunities.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a function organised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development here.
"I appeal to banks to offer loans to women's Self Help groups, currently engaged in producing alternative products for plastics.
Besides, giving loans to companies engaged in manufacturing plastics will help them take up other business opportunities", he said.
The AIADMK government had in June 2018 announced that it would ban the use of plastic items including non-biodegradable carry bags from January 1, 2019 to "gift a plastic-free state to future generations".
Referring to the Centre's crop insurance scheme, he said the state was the highest beneficiary under the scheme in 2016-17.
"In 2016-17, the amount of claims received from insurance companies was Rs 3,526 crore. In 2017-18, about Rs 8,000 crore of funds have been allocated.
In 2018-19, 16.39 lakh farmers registered under the scheme, which is 2.41 lakh more than that registered in the previous year", he said.
The Chief Minister said the government recently released a food processing policy following the proposal to set up 10 mega food parks in the State.
"Through these initiatives, steps have been taken to ramp up farm production, besides increasing revenue to farmers in Tamil Nadu", he said.
Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, while presenting the budget last year, had announced that the government would set up mega food parks that would lead to creation of jobs in rural areas.
The Mega Food Parks are proposed to come up in Theni, Virudhunagar, Tuticorin, Erode, Cuddalore, Salem, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai and Krishnagiri.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)