The Micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the district have the scope to get the maximum share of credit from banks during the next financial year.

 

According to the potential credit plan, prepared by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and released by District Collector T.N. Hariharan here on Thursday, of the total credit outlay of Rs. 16,892.31 crore for the district for next fiscal, the MSMEs are expected to get Rs. 7,735 crore, following by the agriculture sector (38 per cent). This will include crop loan and term credit to agriculture and allied activities, agriculture infrastructure development, and ancillary activities. The proposal is to double the income of farmers by 2022 and hence, efforts are directed towards improvement of agricultural productivity, diversifying production towards high value agriculture, and shifting major portion of farm employment to non-farm activities.

 

R. Inigo Selvan, District Development Manager of NABARD, said an area development scheme to enhance credit flow to the dairy sector will be implemented in the district. Similar schemes can be prepared for other potential sectors. The potential for other priority sectors, covering export credit, education, and housing, is expected to be Rs. 2,651 crore.

A. Kanagaraj, District Lead Bank Manager, said banks have been advised to ensure that farmers who have crop loan are provided with ATM-enabled kisan credit cards.

 

The District Collector said a number of farmer production companies are supported and promoted in the distirct. During the current financial year (2016-2017), banks have been advised to support upto 1,500 joint liability groups of small and marginal farmers, share croppers, rural artisans, and small entrepreneurs. A project has been launched in the district to strengthen the supply chain for perishable agricultural and horticultural produce and it includes setting up primary processing centres in different blocks in the district.