AP annual loan plan at Rs 2.83.380 crore

VIJAYAWADA: The annual 2021-22 loan plan for Andhra Pradesh is of the order of Rs 2,83,380 crore. Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy, while announcing this, has urged bankers to cooperate with the government in the implementation of welfare schemes and development activities along with providing agricultural loans.

The Chief Minister conducted a review meeting with the 215th state-level bankers committee (SLBC) on Monday and released the 2021-22 annual loan plan. He directed the banks to concentrate on providing loans to tenant farmers.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said unpredictable situations arose around the world and even across the country and restrictions like curfew were imposed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Though the curfew was extended, stipulated targets were crossed in loan disbursement, he said, and added that 105 per cent of targets were achieved in priority sectors and 114.16 per cent in agriculture sector.

The CM said the role of banks in achieving this growth rate was commendable. They have exceeded the stipulated targets in loan disbursements. Yet, the efficiency of banks needed to be increased in certain areas like agriculture infra, other agriculture allied sectors, housing and education.

Schools and hospitals are being revamped under the Nadu Nedu scheme and focus is laid on developing infrastructure facilities in the agriculture sector, he said. English is introduced as a medium of instruction in government schools and CBSE affiliation is completed. As a result, “children are coming back to government  schools.”

The CM said schools are being revamped under the second phase of Nadu Nedu scheme. There are no tier-1 cities in Andhra Pradesh. People are going to Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai for treatment. Medical infrastructure is being developed from Village Clinics to Teaching hospitals across the state. Sixteen new medical colleges are being set up in the state and AP is moving forward to ensure a teaching hospital in every parliamentary constituency.

The Chief Minister said revolutionary changes were made in the agriculture sector and RBKs were introduced — with one RBK for every 2,000 population. These RBKs will support farmers in all aspects —from providing certified quality seeds to selling the crop.

Agriculture infrastructure is being developed at RBK level and godowns, cold storages and all other facilities are being provided to farmers, he said, and added that secondary food processing units are being set up at parliamentary constituency level.

Many steps were being taken to empower women in the state and schemes like Cheyutha and Aasara have been implemented. The beneficiaries will be given financial assistance for four years under these schemes. The Amma Vodi scheme is also being implemented for women and these three schemes would play a major role in empowerment of women.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said 17,000 new greenfield colonies are being constructed in which 28.30 lakh houses will be built. Poor eligible beneficiaries were selected in a transparent manner for the housing scheme. Some 15 lakh houses are being constructed in Phase-1 and facilities like drinking water, drainage, roads and other social infrastructure are being developed.

He said Rs 34,000 crore is being spent on this scheme and requested support from banks on these issues.

The Chief Minister said Restart and Navodaya programmes are introduced for MSMEs and a loan restructuring programme was initiated. This is needed to provide assistance and run MSMEs during the Covid pandemic. The chief minister said RBKs are set up at village level and e-cropping is being done at village secretariat level. He advised bankers to focus on providing loans to tenant farmers.

The state annual credit plan for 2021-22 is finalized with an outlay of Rs 2,83,380 crore. Of this, 54 per cent of the loans are for the agriculture sector. It is targeted to give Rs 1,48,500 crore as loans in the agriculture sector.

The target is also to provide Rs 2,13,560 crore as loans to the primary sector which formed 75.36 per cent of the state's annual credit plan.

Participating in the state level bankers committee (SLBC) meeting virtually, Union Bank MD and CEO Raj Kiran Roy said the chief minister took many measures to support people during the Covid pandemic. Under Jagan, Andhra Pradesh has emerged as one of the five top-performing states in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Year 2020. This is as per the rankings released by Niti Aayog, he said and congratulated the CM for this.

He said banks should focus on supporting tenant farmers and providing services in RBKs. While the loan disbursement target for primary sector is Rs 1,87,550 crore, Rs 1,96,9820crore in loans were disbursed and the target for agriculture sector was Rs 1,28,660 crore, but Rs1,46,879 crore in loans was given.

He said the MSME sector has received Rs 40,312 crore as loans while the target was Rs 39,600 crore and the non-priority sector has received Rs 60,652 crore while the target was Rs 60,050 crore.

He requested the Chief Minister to give priority to bank employees in Covid vaccination programme.

Agriculture minister Kurasala Kannababu, agriculture special chief secretary Poonam Malakondaiah, industries special chief secretary Karikala Valaven, finance principal secretary SS Rawat, social welfare principal secretary Sunitha, finance secretary Satyanarayana, agriculture commissioner Arun Kumar, SERP CEO Rajababu, SLBC AP convener Brahmananda Reddy, NABARD CGM SK Jannwar and representatives of various banks were present in the meeting.