FM urges North East RRBs to lend more

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Minister has urged regional rural banks (RRBs), with the active support of their sponsor banks, to increase credit disbursement under various Central government flagship schemes such as MUDRA and PM Vishwakarma.

In a meeting she chaired in Itanagar on Monday to review the performance of seven RRBs of the North East region, she said that the focus should be on credit for agriculture, horticulture, and allied activities like piggery, goatery, sericulture and fisheries, an official press release said. She also directed Nabard to promote farmer producer organizations (FPOs) in the NE region, covering the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.

Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju, the chairpersons of RRBs, top officials of their sponsor banks (SBI and PNB), the Department of Financial Services (DFS), the Reserve Bank of India, Nabard, and Sidbi, and of the seven states were present at the meeting.

During the review meeting, the Finance Minister was apprised about the improvement in the financial performance of the RRBs of the North East and their technology upgrade ever since the regular review was initiated in 2022. The consolidated capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of 15 per cent in 2023-24 is at healthy levels and profitability has improved from loss of Rs 11 crore in 2022-23 to net profit of Rs 205 crore in 2023-24. The gross non-performing assets (GNPA) also improved from 15.6 per cent in 2022-23 to 7.3 per cent in 2023-24.

She urged stakeholders to hold special State Level Bankers’ Committees’ (SLBCs’) meetings involving RRBs to explore the possibility of tapping the potential of horticulture, floriculture, sericulture, and animal husbandry and resolve the issue of availability of land records for extending agri credit. States were also urged to ensure the provision of mobile veterinary units in each district.

Sitharaman emphasized that every eligible person in the North-East region should get covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

She directed the DFS to conduct a meeting with the Ministry of DoNER and the North Eastern Council to explore the possibilities for extending credit to One-District-One-Product (ODOP) vendors of states.

Sitharaman also said that all RRBs must devise suitable MSME products that align with MSME activities and leverage their personal and local connect to increase penetration.