Nabard has signed an MoU with the West Bengal government and three sponsor banks for a sustainable viability plan (SVP) of three regional rural banks (RRBs) in the state.
A Nabard spokesman said that as part of the recapitalisation programme of the three RRBs, Bangiya Gramin Vikas Bank (sponsor bank UBI), Paschim Banga Gramin Bank (sponsor bank UCO) and Uttarbanga Khetriya Gramin Bank (sponsor bank Central Bank of India), the MoU was signed along with the state government. As per the SVP, the three RRBs would wipe out their accumulated losses by March 2013, besides showing improvement in the CD ratio and other key financial parameters.
The total recapitalisation assistance in respect of the three RRBs amounted to Rs 336.74 crore, shared jointly by Nabard, the state government and the sponsor banks, the spokesman said. Earlier, a state focus paper (SFP) on West Bengal released by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) estimated a credit potential of Rs 18,100 crore for the coming fiscal, as against Rs 13,410.28 crore for the year 2008-09. This represents 35 per cent increase in the credit potential over the last year. Earlier, Nabard had projected the total credit potential at Rs 17,570 crore, which was revised upwards on request from Asim Dasgupta, finance minister, West Bengal at a meeting with bankers and government officials in Kolkata on Wednesday. The farm sector loan, including both production and investment credit, has been pegged at around Rs 9,006 crore, accounting for 50 per cent of the total priority sector lending. The non-farm credit has been calculated at Rs 4,063 crore, constituting 22 per cent of the total credit.
Lending for the emerging sectors of the economy, like agro and food processing has been put at about Rs 437 crore, accounting for two per cent of the priority sector lending. In the context of the debt waiver and the debt relief scheme 2008, the demand for production credit has been projected to increase at 43 per cent.
