Chief minister N Rangasamy urged banks to be more liberal in issuing loans to weaker sections of the society.
Speaking at the first meeting for the year 2012-2013 of the state level bankers’ committee of UT of Puducherry held on Wednesday, he said this move would result in their uplift and development of the state.
Rangasamy, who complemented the banks for providing valuable services to the people, requested them to be more proactive in giving education loans to students and providing the same within the shortest possible time.
Rajeev Rishi, executive director, Indian Bank, highlighted the commendable performance of banks in UT during 2011-2012.
Appreciating the banks for showing significant growth, he said this had helped in increasing credit deposit (CD) ratio to 74 per cent. He also made an appeal to them to sustain this momentum to break new barriers.
Commending the banks for their performance in lending under annual credit plan, where it had reached a level of `1216.78 crore, he requested them to maintain the same trend in the current year also.
He commended the noteworthy performance in the agriculture sector which had maintained a level above the stipulated norm of 18 per cent and requested bankers to focus on cash crops and in doubling per hectare production by adopting new and high tech production technologies like precision farming,organic farming, drip/sprinkler irrigation systems, green house cultivation, floriculture, horticulture, agro processing, cold storage units and rural godowns in view of decrease in cultivable land.
Rajeev Rishi requested the banks to strive hard to lend more under Differential Rate of Interest (DRI), minorities and SC/ST advances.
He complimented all the bankers for their efforts in providing timely relief by way of restructuring and fresh credit to persons from areas that had been affected by cyclone Thane.
He urged the banks to extend new crop loans as well as existing crop loans which are due for renewal this year as revised Kisan Credit card (KCC) scheme.
The UT continues to perform significantly to ensure inclusive growth of the population by providing access to the financial services for the economic and social emancipation, he said.
Rajeeva Yaduvashi, IAS, secretary (finance), R P Pal, IAS, secretary (rural development),govt of Puducherry, N S Viswanathan, regional director, RBI, Lalitha Venkatesan, chief general manager, NABARD, T S Bhaskaran, general manager (PS) Indian Bank, D A Ulagan, general manager, Puducherry Zone, senior officers of various banks and officials participated.