By Animesh Singh

New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS): The amount of outstanding bank loans to minority communities has increased from Rs 1,43,397 crore as on March 31, 2011 to Rs 3,12,566 crore as on March 31, 2022, registering a growth of 118 per cent during this period, according to Finance Ministry sources.

Enhanced priority sector lending to minority communities by public sector banks (PSBs) had been mandated by the government in 2007-08.

The government at that time had directed PSBs to step up their priority sector lending to minorities from 9 per cent to 15 per cent over a period of three years, sources said.

Since then, there has been sustained growth in lending to minority communities by PSBs.

They were advised to make continuous efforts to achieve the target from 2010-11 onwards.

Outstanding loans to minority communities as on March 31, 2022 has also witnessed a year-on-year growth of 8.56 per cent over previous year, which stood at Rs 2,87,917 crore as on March 31, 2021.

The overall achievement of PSBs under minority community lending was around 13 per cent of their total lending to the priority sector as on March 31, 2022.

Moreover, credit flow to a particular sector or industry including lending to the minority communities remains mostly demand driven, and is linked to the level of economic activity and other related factors, the sources added.