Nabard hopes that the Modi govt’s new budget will adequately address the problem of the waning share of cooperative banks and regional rural banks in investment credit in agriculture and allied sectors, according to a report in the Economic Times.
According to the Nabard, the share has plummeted to a meager 13 percent in 2013-14. Nabard chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala claims Nabard has released Rs. 4,000 crore out of the Rs. 5,000 crore long term funds as announced in the budget 2014-15 for cooperative banks and regional rural banks.
Nabard believes that enough investment credit alone can boost farm output and productivity. The bank also favours boosting the supply chain in agriculture and investment in it, Harsh Kumar says.
Nabard has been directly engaged with creation of rural infrastructure in agriculture and rural sectors across the country since 1995-96 through the rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF), which was created out of the priority sector lending shortfall of the banks.
