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Despite repeated reprimands by the state government, banks in Odisha continue to lag in advancing credit to the priority sectors.
According to the latest data collated by the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC), the credit offtake is just 48.01 per cent of the target of Rs 40,001.01 crore. Banks have advanced Rs 19,203.29 crore to the priority sector as on December 31, 2014.
The achievement for the agriculture and allied sector is Rs 10,760.21 crore, which is 46.44 per cent of the credit target of Rs 22,975.36 crore fixed for the current financial year.
The credit to micro and small enterprises is calculated at Rs 4,827.39 crore (84.41 per cent) against the target of Rs 5,719.13 crore. The advances to education sector is abysmally low with meagre 14.17 per cent achievement of Rs 1,000.13 crore target.
Against the allocation of Rs 2,225.91 crore credit for the housing sector, the credit off take is Rs 1,093.66 crore (49.13 per cent) as on December, 2014. Public sector banks have achieved 43.02 per cent of the credit target of Rs 21,099.38 crore. The private banks have fared better than their public sector counterparts with an achievement of 80.37 per cent. Private banks were given a target of Rs 2,328 crore and have disbursed Rs 1,871 crore by December end. Regional Rural Banks and Co-operative banks have clocked 40.99 per cent and 56.13 per cent of the target respectively.
