BHUBANESWAR: The State government on Thursday made a strong pitch for enhancing the NABARD loan assistance to Odisha from the existing Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore for rural infrastructure development, agriculture and allied activities.The State made the demand to NABARD Chairman GR Chintala during an interactive session between senior officers of the government and NABARD held here under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Suresh Mahaptra.
The Chief Secretary urged the NABARD Chairman to enhance its loan assistance to Rs 10,000 cr under schemes like rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF), rural infrastructure assistance to states (RIAS), long term irrigation fund (LITF), financial inclusion, diary entrepreneurship development, and agricultural marketing infrastructure. He said the State is prepared to implement projects worth Rs 5,000 crore under RIDF, Rs 4,500 crore under RIAS and Rs 500 crore under LITF.
NABARD has enhanced the RIDF loan to Odisha from around Rs 2,500 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 3,000 crore in the current financial year. “We have become a lead State in rural roads, housing, farmers empowerment, women empowerment and skill development. In post-Covid scenario, there is need for higher investment in rural roads, irrigation, agricultural development, social infrastructure, creation of new livelihood opportunities and agri-business,” Mahapatra said.With pioneering initiatives and faster growth across the sectors, Odisha has emerged as a rapidly developing State within last two decades. It is now one among the three top investment destinations in the country.
Development Commissioner Pradeep Jena said more investment is needed for building disaster resilient infrastructure in the State because of its unique geo-physical location which makes it prone to frequent disasters. Highlighting the low credit deposit ratio and credit flow from banks to rural sector, Principal Secretary of Finance Vishal Dev emphasised the need for covering all unbanked GPs either through brick and mortar branches or banking correspondent agents.Seeking the national bank’s help in financial inclusion, Dev said out of 6,798 GPs only one third GPs have bank branches and 1,500 SHG members are operating as BCAs.
Later in the day, Chintala met the Chief Minister at Naveen Niwas and discussed issues for strengthening rural infrastructure in the State. During the discussion, the Chief Minister highlighted efforts of the State Government to reduce poverty and ensure rapid infrastructure development in rural sector. Keeping the recurring natural disasters in view, the Chief Minister also emphasised the role of Low Cost Credit Support from NABARD for building disaster resilient rural infrastructure.