A Maharashtra state-level committee of bankers would take up the issue of increasing commercial banks’ exposure to crop loans. The committee meeting is scheduled for June 8 and would be chaired by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Currently, commercial banks disburse only 30 per cent of the state’s total crop loans, while cooperative banks continue to play a major role, with a share of 70 per cent. This is in contrast to the scene at the national level, in which commercial banks have a 70 per cent share in the disbursement of crop loans.
A state government official told Business Standard, “The state government would make a strong argument on how the present picture can be changed after commercial banks take up a proactive role. The annual plan of Rs 20,000 crore would come up for discussion and the government feels commercial banks would take the necessary initiatives to increase their share.” The official said the cooperative banking sector had been the backbone of the state’s agriculture and cooperative sector.
Of the total cooperative societies in the state, 9.8 per cent account for agriculture credit, 10.9 per cent for non-agriculture credit and the remaining 79.3 per cent are engaged in markeing, production and irrigation. The agricultural cooperative structure in the state is a three-tier one, with Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank as the apex body at the state level.
According to the state finance department, the credit plan for Maharashtra is steadily increasing. In the annual credit plan for 2010-11, the share of agriculture and allied activities was 62 per cent, while that of rural artisans, village, cottage industries and small scale industries was 12 per cent. During 2008-09, against the target of Rs 16,702 crore for agriculture and allied activities, the actual figure stood at Rs 9,824 crore. In 2009-10, figure was only Rs 15,213 crore, compared with the target of Rs 28,648 crore.
