The Hindu Business Line : Govt to take steps to double farm credit

Ploughing on
Mr Chidambaram maintained that farm lending at seven per cent was not a `direct lending'.
A meeting of the chairmen of the commercial banks will be held on March 23.

Baramati , March 12

"Make agriculture an agri business and remove the mindset that farmer and poverty are married together for life." This statement was made by the Union Minister of Finance, Mr P. Chidambaram, at the sixth Baramati initiative on e-agriculture.

Mr Chidambaram broadly outlining the roadmap by which farming could be made profitable, noted that there were four key elements — water, credit, technology and markets — required to make agriculture an agri-business. The Government has taken strong steps to double farming credit within three years. Quoting figures, he said the target has been fixed at Rs 1,72,000 crore at the end of the third year for farming credit. For the first year, the target was Rs 1,05,000 crore which has been exceeded and has touched Rs 1,25,000 crore.

For the current year, it is Rs 1,41,000 crore, which, "by March 31, 2006, the ending of the current financial year, would have exceeded the target," he said. For the next year, the target is aimed at Rs 1,75,000 crore, "which I am sure would be exceeded," he pointed out.

"I do not want to get into the debate of retail sector, but the Indian farmer requires supermarkets for the sale of his produce." Mr Chidambaram pointed out that this was a necessity to help the farmers reach the produce to a larger market and "I am not concerned whether the supermarkets are opened by Indian entrepreneurs or multinational companies, but it has to be opened up. This would give assurance to the farmers that his produce would be sold in a steady market,'' he noted.

However, he noted that there has not been any significant movement in the opening up of the retail sector. Mr Chidambaram said that just as Bangalore is important in the map of the IT world, Baramati in many ways preceded Bangalore and today occupies a place of pride in the rural development.

Using the agricultural platform, Mr Chidambaram and Mr Sharad Pawar, Union Minister for Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, has also called for the end to "politics of poverty".

Mr Chidambaram maintained that farm lending at seven per cent was not a `direct lending'. He said a meeting of the chairmen of the commercial banks will be held on March 23 to iron out the problems faced by the banks in this sector.

He also said that, "My wish is that the barriers could be demolished especially the outdated Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act, Sales tax and interstate barriers," and added that he would make easy credit available to the farmers.

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