The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has estimated a credit potential of Rs 1936.37 crore for Meghalaya under priority sector during 2019-20, officials said on Tuesday.

The projected amount was disclosed by NABARD during the launch of the State Focus Paper (SPF), a credit planning exercise undertaken by the bank in close coordination with multiple stakeholders like the state government, banks, NGOs and farmer groups.

The amount holds significance for Meghalaya, which has been a largely credit-deficient state with consistently low credit-deposit ratios in the range of 30-32 per cent, NABARD state-in-charge Y K Rao said.

The SPF has estimated Rs 595.10 crore for crop loans, Rs 387.93 crore for term loans in agriculture, Rs 714.93 crore for the MSME sector and Rs 238.41 crore for other priority sectors like rural housing and education loans, he said.

Chief Secretary Y Tsering exhorted the banking sector to rise up to the challenges and ensure that individual comprehensive plans are drawn to achieve targets in a time-bound manner.

The chief secretary also stressed upon the fact that the credit-fuelled growth narrative has "bypassed" large chunks of farming communities in the state and that remedial action is the call of the hour.

Meghalaya Agriculture Secretary Sampath Kumar urged the banking sector to reach out to self-help groups (SHGs) and the farmers.

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