Kolkata, Nov 8 (IANS): Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday said the target of Rs.475,000 crore crop loan to be provided to farmers this fiscal will be surpassed.

"We had said that we will double the short-term crop loan to the farmers within three years that was announced by my predecessor in the 2005 budget. Within two years, we surpassed the target," Mukherjee told reporters after holding an 'internal discussion' with the chairmen and managing directors (CMDs) of Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India and UCO Bank.

"Last year, my target was to provide Rs.375,000 crore short-term crop loan to the farmers. This year I have fixed the target of Rs.475,000 crore and I am confident that we will surpass that target," he added.

Mukherjee said there were three agendas in the discussion viz financial inclusion, current status of bank branch expansion and opening of branches at un-banked blocks in nine states -- West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

"In my budget speech of 2010-11, I announced that we shall provide banking facilities to the villages having population of more than 2,000. In this region in 2009-10, 10,721 villages were identified where banking facilities are to be provided," the finance minister said.

Up to September, 4,969 of these villages have been covered and remaining 5,752 villages are expected to be covered by March 2012, he added.

He said the number of accounts to be opened in the nine states were 21,31,754.