By Our Correspondent in Bhubaneswar, January 30, 2015 :

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on Friday projected a credit plan outlay of Rs 47,756.43 crore for the priority sector in Odisha for 2015-16, which is 19 % higher than credit plan projected for 2114-15.

Within the priority sector the quantum of agricultural loans for the year 2015-16 has been estimated at Rs 26,226.48 crore. This includes credit for farm mechanization to the tune of Rs 2,164.02 crore,  Rs 661.29 crore for plantation and horticulture, Rs 1,766.41 crore in animal husbandry sector and Rs 688.29 crore for fishery sector. Keeping the huge requirement of agricultural storage space in the State, the potential credit requirement for storage and godown in 2015-16 has been pegged at Rs 725.28 crore.

The credit plan outlay was presented here on Friday at a State Credit Seminar. The plan document has been based on the theme “Accelerating the Pace of Capital Formation in Agriculture and Allied Sectors in Odisha” to focus on asset creation in agriculture.

Speaking on the occasion, NABARD chief general manager S. K. Kale, stressed the need for public investments for infrastructure and services like irrigation structures, agri-input supply chain, post-harvest technological facilities etc. to motivate the farming community for more private investments.

“Banks are required to upscale term loan financing for the farming community for more private investment in host of on-farm and off-farm activities agriculture and allied activities in the State”, he remarked.

Presiding over the seminar, chief secretary, G. C. Pati, complemented NABARD for the pragmatic plan document making assessment of realizable sectoral potentials and for identification of sectoral interventions. He advised that State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) to take this into consideration before finalizing the credit plan for 2015-16.

Among others, additional chief secretary R. Balakrishnan, Reserve Bank of India regional director P. K. Jena, and representatives of all concerned government departments, commercial banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and developmental institutions participated in the Seminar.