National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has released Rs 20,500 crore to co-operative banks and regional rural banks for on-lending.
The disbursement to RRBs & Co-operative banks is the part of Rs 25,000 crore of special refinance plan which was approved by the Reserve Bank of India to RRBs, Co-operative banks & MFIs.
NABARD said, “We have extended Rs 20,500 crore with Rs 15,200 crore to cooperative banks and the balance of Rs 5,300 crore to RRBs as special liquidity facilities in various states.”
The fund disbursed is offered as a means of front loading of resource of co-operative banks and RRBs that ensures the availability of liquidity with them to finance farmers for taking up pre-monsoon and kharif 2020 operations.
Jiji Mammen, CGM, NABARD said, “Of the Rs 25,000 crore special refinance facility provided by the RBI, Nabard had allocated Rs 23,000 crore for lending to cooperative banks and RRBs, and Rs 2,000 crore for MFIs.”
Mammen adds, “We have already disbursed Rs 20,500 crore to cooperative banks and RRBs for on-lending to farmers starting May. We plan to disburse the balance amount in the next two weeks.”
Out of Rs 2000 crore, Rs 1,550 crore has been disbursed already to the Micro Finance Institutions.
NABARD said that the banks have initiated a programme for kisan credit cards and around 12 lakh new KCC cards have been issued by co-operative banks and RRBs in last months.
