From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Apr 16: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has achieved a highest-ever record business level of Rs 13,509 crore in Karnataka during the year 2015-16.

The business of NABARD in the State covered traditional refinance to banks, infrastructure finance to State Government and new business areas fostering rural development. 

NABARD advocates accelerating the pace of capital formation in agriculture. The long term refinance disbursements from NABARD to banks for financing agriculture and allied activities touched a new high at Rs 6,766.90 crore in Karnataka - a record growth of 60% over previous year.

Long-term refinance disbursements to Cooperatives in Karnataka at 1519.14 crore was the highest by any State in the country and Rs 1748.46 crore to Regional Rural Banks was second highest.

Apart from Cooperatives and RRBs, NBFCs and MFIs also play a critical role in financial inclusion in rural areas. 

NABARD extended long term refinance assistance of Rs 1185.77 crore to NBFC–MFIs in Karnataka which is also the highest in the country. 

Short Term refinance was purveyed by NABARD for crop loans disbursed by banks to the tune of Rs 5,205.21 crore at a concessional rate of 4.5 % p.a to Cooperatives, Regional Rural Banks and Primary Agriculture Credit Societies through Commercial banks. 

Short-term multi-purpose credit to the extent of Rs 646.20 crore was extended directly to eight DCCBs in the State for various short-term activities. 

NABARD released a total loan assistance of Rs 761.82 crore to Karnataka and the State Corporations for development of rural and warehouse infrastructure during 2015-16. This included an amount of Rs 217.02 crore disbursed to Karnataka State Warehousing Corporation (KSWC) and Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board (KSAMB) for creation of additional storage capacity of 3.20 LMT in 92 places and for creation of related infrastructure in 119 market yards. 

In order to strengthen ground level financial institutions and make them self-reliant, NABARD has been supporting Primary Agriculture Co-operative Societies (PACS) and Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDBs) to diversify their credit and credit plus activities so as to become viable. 

During 2015-16, NABARD sanctioned loans amounting to Rs 30.00 crore to 89 PACS and 5 PCARDBs to enable their transformation into Multi Service Centers. 

Recognizing the importance of rural housing, NABARD sanctioned a loan of Rs 6 crore to Sanghamitra Rural Financial Services for on-lending to SHGs, in four districts in Karnataka, for house repairs and construction of toilets.   

NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS), a wholly owned subsidiary of NABARD engaged in providing consultancy services in all spheres of agriculture, rural development and allied areas, bagged consultancy assignments exceeding one crore in Karnataka.