In FY21, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) gave financial support of Rs 9,162 crore to West Bengal(WB) for the development of agriculture and allied sectors under Covid-19.
- NABARD State Focus Paper 2021-22 has estimated a credit potential of Rs.2.21 lakh crores to be disbursed by various banks for the priority sector activities of WB.
- The theme for this year’s State Focus Paper (2021-22) is ‘Collectivization of Agricultural Produce for Enhancing Farmer’s Income’.
Key points about the Rs.9,162 crore financial support:
The financial support includes a loan of Rs. 1269.27 crore to State Government for rural infrastructure development, Rs. 3842.32 crore for long-term refinances assistance to Rural Financial Institutions (RFIs), and Rs. 3757.50 crore for short-term refinance to RFIs for supporting production and marketing activities of farmers and rural artisans.
Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF):
i.In FY21, with RIDF loan support of Rs.1659.62 crore, NABARD sanctioned 2284 new rural infrastructure projects in WB (consisting of rural roads, rural bridges, medium and minor irrigation projects, flood protection projects, solar power plants and Anganwadi Centres).
ii.It sanctioned 2 solar power plants under RIDF that would generate 20 MW power for lighting 06 villages and providing electrical facilities to 29,000 villagers.
iii.Formed 966 Anganwadi Centres, which will benefit about 61,000 women of 966 villages, in providing facilities for their children.
Long-term refinance facility:
Under this facility, NABARD gave Rs. 2403.33 crore concessional refinance support to Commercial Banks, Rs.701.0 crore to the Cooperative Banks, Rs. 157 crores to Regional Rural Banks, and Rs. 581 crores to NBFC/NBFC-MFIs in the State.
Short-term refinance facility:
Under this, Rs. 3757.50 crore was provided to support the Rural Cooperative Banks(RCB) and RRBs towards agriculture operations. It also includes a Special Liquidity Facility of Rs. 720 crore provided to RCB and RRB banks.
Points to be noted:
i.Under its Micro Irrigation Fund, NABARD sanctioned a Micro Irrigation project to the Govt. of WB with loan support of Rs.276.55 crore(This will bring 74,592 ha area under micro-irrigation coverage spread over 10 districts of the State)
ii.A Special Liquidity Facility of Rs. 450 crore was extended to Non- Banking Finance Companies (NBFC)/NBFC-MFIs/smaller MFIs in WB.
Recent Related News:
On 3rd December 2020 Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to address the key interests of Agriculture and allied sectors for bringing better value to the stakeholders and Implementing Agriculture Export Policy (AEP).
About National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD):
Establishment – 1982 (on the recommendations of B. Sivaramman Committee)
Chairman – Govinda Rajulu Chintala
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
About West Bengal:
Capital – Kolkata
Chief Minister – Mamata Banerjee
Governor – Jagdeep Dhankhar
