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Home2024December (Page 10)
Acts & Schemes – Centre, Agribusiness, AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Allied Industry, Collaborations, Finance, Funding, India, Institutions, Investments, Microfinance, Schemes - Banks, Schemes - Govt, Schemes - NABARD

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate, Nirmala Sitharaman chairs meeting to review the performance of eight Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in Eastern Region covering four states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal

Samrat Choudhary, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar; M. Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), ED, RBI; Chairpersons of RRBs and sponsor banks were also present during the meeting. Additional Secretary, DFS, representatives of NABARD and SIDBI and senior officers of participating states also attended the meeting.

The RRB review meeting focused on business performance, upgrading digital technology services, and fostering business growth in activities allied to agriculture and micro and small industry. Given the crucial role of RRBs in supporting the rural economy, the Union Finance Minister urged RRBs – with the active support of their sponsor banks – to increase credit disbursement under various Government of India flagship schemes such as MUDRA, PM Vishwakarma, etc.

Sitharaman directed RRBs to increase their share in ground level agriculture credit disbursement with special focus on allied agriculture activities like dairy, animal husbandry, fisheries etc. Union Finance Minister directed Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank to increase credit flow to fisheries and foxnut (makhana) to realise the full potential of these activities in the region.

The Union Finance Minister emphasised the importance of accelerating technology upgradation in RRBs the region to enhance efficiency and service delivery. She also noted improvement in financial parameters of these RRBs. Consolidated CRAR has improved from 7.8 per cent in FY 2022 to 9.4 per cent in FY 2024 and Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) have improved from 25 per cent in FY 2022 to 15 per cent in FY 2024. RRBs in Eastern Region have posted consolidated profit of Rs 625 crore during FY 2024 against net loss of Rs. 690 crore in FY 2023.

Samrat Choudhary, Deputy Chief Minister Bihar, urged banks to increase number of branches in rural areas of state and improve CD ratio. He also urged banks to provide increased support to small scale industries and increase digitial transactions in rural areas.

Union Finance Minister highlighted huge potential of furthering financial inclusion in the region and urged sponsor banks in coordination with RRBs to saturate beneficiaries under Financial Inclusion schemes of Government of India viz. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), etc.

Sitharaman underlined importance of providing digital services of Internet Banking, Mobile Banking and UPI to customers of RRBs and directed these RRBs to complete onboarding of these services on priority by end of December 2024. She further urged RRBs to promote these services amongst their customers to increase their usage with help of respective sponsor banks.

Union Finance Minister stressed on the potential of One District One Product (ODOP) programme to increase self-employment in the region. She urged state government to extend support to banks for increasing credit flow to women SHGs and to join hands with NABARD and SIDBI to evolve them into enterprises. Financial Institutions were further directed to provide support for training and marketing linkages.

The Union Finance Minister also highlighted that sponsor banks and RRBs must recognise the challenges that lie ahead. Maintaining asset quality, expanding digital services, and ensuring robust corporate governance are the areas that require continued focus.

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate, Nirmala

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Collaborations, Schemes - Govt

As a part of Mission Arun Himveer, the state government, via LAMPS (Liberalized Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies), supplied around 400 tons of fruits and vegetables worth Rs 72 lakh to the armed forces from local farmers

To boost market linkage for agricultural and horticultural products in Arunachal Pradesh, the state government on Friday launched Mission Arun Himveer by signing a pact between the agriculture marketing board and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, North East Frontier, in the presence of Chief Minister Pema Khandu here.

As part of the initiative, the state government will supply fruits, vegetables, meat, and poultry to the ITBP. These produces will be procured from local farmers, self-help groups (SHGs), farmer producer organisations and farmer cooperatives, according to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office.

This new agreement follows a similar understanding with the Army in August 2022, under which the state government, via LAMPS (Liberalized Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies), supplied around 400 tons of fruits and vegetables worth Rs 72 lakh to the armed forces from local farmers. Mission Arun Himveer is supposed to have far reaching impact on accelerating ‘reverse migration’ of people. This initiative would not only double farmers’ income but also create a friendly relationship between people in the border region and ITBP forces.

As a part of Mission Arun Himveer,

AgroPolicy, Finance, Fruits, Horticulture, India, Schemes - Banks, Vegetables

The project will roll out a clean plant certification scheme, accrediting private nurseries, and testing and certifying their planting materials.

The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $98 million loan to improve horticulture crop farmers’ access to certified disease-free planting materials, which will boost their crops’ yield, quality, and resilience to climate impacts.

The project will roll out a clean plant certification scheme, accrediting private nurseries, and testing and certifying their planting materials. It will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare through the National Horticulture Board and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The signatories to the loan agreement for the Building India’s Clean Plant Programme were Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and Kai Wei Yeo Officer-in-Charge of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.

After signing the agreement, Mukherjee stated that the ADB funding will promote plant health that is vital for improving productivity of farmers.

“The project supports the Government of India’s Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Programme (CPP) that enhances plant health management. It will help develop regulatory framework and institutional systems to effectively implement the CPP for horticulture in India. The project will involve close consultation with private nurseries, researchers, state governments, and growers’ associations to ensure its success and sustainability,” said Yeo.

The plant health management promoted through the project will also help farmers adapt to climate change, as rising temperatures not only cause extreme weather events but also affect pest and disease behaviour. This will be achieved through establishing clean plant centres dedicated to maintaining disease-free foundation materials. These centres will feature laboratories equipped with cutting-edge diagnostic testing methods and will be staffed with experts who are trained in clean plant centre operating procedures and diagnostic testing protocols.

The project will roll out a clean

Agribusiness, Agrotech, Company News, Digital Technologies, Finance, World

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