Agriculture credit potential up in Maharashtra

Is 25 per cent higher than the last year's estimate?

Various agriculture and rural development projects in Maharashtra can draw credits worth Rs 26,268 crore in the next financial year, says the state credit focus paper prepared by the National Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (Nabard).

This credit potential estimate, to be realised through various banks, is 25 per cent higher than the last year's estimate of Rs 20,972 crore.

Maharashtra minister of state for water resources, Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, had on Tuesday released the credit potential focus paper during a seminar organised by Nabard.

According to the paper, various nationalised, private and cooperative banks, along with credit cooperative societies, can raise credits worth Rs 16,919 crore in the agri sector.

The credit potential for the non-farming sector is estimated at Rs 3,114 crore, while the same in the case of other priority sectors is Rs 6,235 crore.

Within the agri sector, the prominent areas for which credit estimates have been made include crop loan (Rs 11,840 crore), minor irrigation (Rs 1,106 crore), farm mechanisation (Rs 1,086 crore) and animal husbandry (Rs 994 crore).

The estimates have been made for all districts in Maharashtra apart from Navi Mumbai and the greater Mumbai regions.

While preparing this paper, Nabard has said it would continue the re-finance scheme for cooperative and regional rural banks (RRBs). Nabard expects the state government to facilitate crop-cutting experiments and issue anganwadi certificates to farmers.