Assam agriculture minister Atul Borahas expressed concern that credit to agriculture is declining, according to data published by State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).
Bora was speaking during a state credit seminar organised by Nabard here on Monday.
He urged upon banks to work in tandem for improving institutional finance to the agricultural sector of economy in an agrarian state like Assam.
The chief general manager, Nabard, Assam regional office, S.S. Saha, reiterated that Nabard is working towards achieving the twin goal of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022 and high-tech agricultural practices.
“Nabard has projected credit potential of Rs 27,989.04 crore for Assam for 2020-21 in the seminar, which was 17 per cent higher than the previous year. Of the total projected credit potential, share of agriculture and allied activities is around 61 per cent,” Saha said.
He said the Assam government has been continuously working to improve the rural infrastructure in the state to enhance both the credit absorption capacity and credit demand in rural areas.
Rajiv K. Bora, additional chief secretary (finance), urged banks to be farmer-friendly and step up financing of agriculture and allied sector so as to exploit the credit potential projected by Nabard in its state focus paper 2020.
Around 100 artisans, self-help groups from Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura are participating in the three-day Nabard fair with their products to attract buyers.
