Farms Credit Target Raised to rs 8 Lakh Crore - FM

The Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley while presenting his maiden Budget in Lok Sabha here today said that bank are providing strong credit support to the agriculture sector. A target of Rs 8 lakh crore has been set for agriculture credit during 2014-15 which he is confident that the banks will surpass in the current financial year.

Under the Interest Subvention Scheme for short them crop loans, the banks are extending loans to farmers at a concessional rate of 7%. The farmers get a further incentive of 3% for timely repayment. He hope to continue the Scheme in 2014-15, the Finance Minister added.

The Finance Minister said that NABARD operated the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) out of the priority sector lending shortfall of the banks, which helps in creation of infrastructure in agriculture and rural sectors across the country. The Finance Minister proposed to raise the corpus of RIDF by an additional Rs 5,000 crores from the target given in the Interim Budget to Rs 25,000 crores in the current financial year.

Source : Press Information Bureau

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