Indian Bank Vijayawada disburses Rs 150.50 cr farm loans

Fifty seven branches of Indian Bank in Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts, which come under the Vijayawada circle, disbursed Rs 150.50 crore to 1, 01,700 farmers during the first three quarters of 2004-05 as against the annual target of Rs138.32 crore.

The priority sector, comprising agriculture, small industries, housing, education, business, and finance received Rs 189.09 crore loans as against the annual credit plan target of Rs 159.47 crore.

Indian Bank Vijayawada Circle assistant general manager N Munirathnam Naidu said that 74 per cent of the total advances had gone to the priority sector as against a stipulated 40 per cent.

The bank circle's net profit for the first three quarters of this fiscal (2004 -2005) stood at Rs 5.02 crore compared to Rs 5.62 crore it achieved for the entire previous fiscal (2003-04). The circle's deposits during April-December this fiscal went up by Rs 34.82 crore and advances by Rs 52.49 crore.

According to Naidu, the circle branches disbursed loans totalling Rs 140.70 crore to 99,499 farmers. They included 35,000 new farmers, who received Rs 56.43 crore. Crop loans of all eligible farmers in drought-hit villages were converted into term loans, and new loans were given to them.

In addition, the circle had so far advanced Rs 39.04 crore to 20,000 farmers under the Indian Bank Kisan Credit Card scheme. A number of farmers were also given loans under the schemes such as Indian Bank Kisan Bike and KCC, and under farm mechanisation and aquaculture. The bank's Grameena Mahila Sowbhagya and Swarnabharana schemes were attracting rural women, he added.

He said that under the Golden Harvest scheme, Rs 10,000 per acre was loaned to farmers as working capital for cultivating paddy and Rs 20,000 per acre for growing sugarcane.

Under Sugarcane Premium, an innovative tie-up scheme, Rs 15,000 per acre, subject to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh, was given as medium-term loan based on just beneficiary's declaration.

Competitive interest rates of 8.5 to 11.50 per cent without insistence on any security up to Rs 2 lakh loan are the new features of the scheme.

Naidu said the bank had also begun financing construction of cold storages in Nandigama area of Krishna and Guntur districts.