The Annual Credit Plan of Orissa for 2011-12 has been pegged at Rs 25019 crore which is an increase of 48 per cent over the Credit Plan of Rs 16915 crore for 2010-11.
Of the total Credit Plan of Rs 25019 crore, the agriculture sector has been allotted Rs 12850 crore which is about 51 per cent of the total plan. The Rs 12850 crore allocated for the agriculture sector includes Rs 4046 crore towards term loan for agriculture and allied activities and Rs 8804 crore for crop loan.
The allocation to non-farm sector including agro and agro-food processing, which has huge potential to generate livelihood opportunities, particularly in rural areas, has been Rs 2602.08 crore while other priority sectors have been allotted Rs 9566.97 crore.
Keeping in view the presence of over five lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the state, Rs 2662 crore of credit flow has been earmarked for financing SHGs by the banks.The total outlay for the State Credit Plan is an aggregation of the Potential Linked Credit Plans for 2011-12 prepared by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) for all the districts of the state.
"The ground level credit in the agriculture sector in the state has jumped from Rs 1316 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 3657 crore in 2007-08 and has reached Rs 5363 crore by the end of 2009-10. All banks must sustain this tempo and momentum of growth in agricultural credit”, Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, the state finance minister said at the State Credit seminar for 2011-12 organized by Nabard.
"Nabard has provided cumulative financial assistance of Rs 5443 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for 1,16,450 projects out of which 85518 projects have been commissioned and many projects are in the implementation stage. The completed projects created irrigation potential fro 4.01 lakh hectares, providing connectivity to 897 villages and access to 1460 marketing centres”, he added.
B K Pattnaik, the state Chief Secretary said, “The acceleration of growth of the agriculture sector will not only push the overall state GDP but also render the growth more equitable and inclusive. All out efforts are required to increase the growth of the agriculture sector and sustain the momentum of credit flow to agriculture in the state The state had recorded an annual average GDP growth of 8.73 per cent during the first three years during the 11th Five Year Plan.”
Speaking on the occasion, C R Patnaik, Chief General Manager, Nabard (Bhubaneswar) said “The State Credit Plan has been pegged at Rs 25019 crore for 2011-12. Suitable budgetary provisions need to be made for optimal off take of credit.”
