Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi asks bankers to give more loans

PATNA: Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday asked the bankers to increase loaning activities under the state’s annual credit plan (ACP) in the 10 districts where loan disbursement has been less than 10% of the target. The 10 districts include Banka (6.29%), Arwal (6.29%), Madhubani (7.28%) and Siwan (8.01%). Modi, who is also the state finance minister, asked the bankers to review the situation within the next 15 days.
Addressing the 73rd state level bankers’ committee meeting, he said the state government has provided to pay 15-35% of the capital and interest as subsidy in the handicraft sector and in the commercial farming sector like makhana, fruits and vegetables, honey, maize and seeds that require processing, but the bankers have shown reluctance to provide loans to the farmers.
He also noted the poor loaning activities for the footpath vendors, who have to be given Rs10,000 each as loan under Atmanirbhar Bharat programme of the Centre. Of the 14,917 applications submitted, only 3,974 were accepted and the bankers processed only 45 of them. The urban development department has asked the bankers to provide loans to 1 lakh footpath vendors.
Similarly, Modi said 2.5 crore farmers with kisan credit cards (KCCs) had to be given Rs2 lakh loan each, but only 69,689 had been given the facility. In the micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, Rs2,051 crore had been disbursed among 1.17 lakh applicants.
Finance department principal secretary S Siddharth also addressed the bankers.