Shimla, July 8 (KNN) Himachal Pradesh has set a target to cover more than five lakh farmers under Kisan Credit Card ( KCC). The state has already covered 4.36 lakh farmers under the scheme.

This was informed during the meeting of chief secretary Ram Subhag Singh with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) chairman G R Chintala in Shimla on Thursday.

During the meet, discussions were also held on various ongoing developmental projects under National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in the state.

Singh said that there is a need to strengthen the primary agricultural credit societies and primary weavers cooperative societies in the state. He asked the officers of various department and NABARD to look into constraints in credit flow to the agriculture sector in order to strengthen these societies.

During 2021-22, the ground-level credit flow to the priority sector was Rs 20,260.14 crore whereas the credit flow to the agriculture sector was Rs 8,855.60 crore under NABARD. In 2021-22, the achievement made by NABARD under the annual credit plan was 77.98 per cent.

As many as 4.36 lakh farmers have been covered under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and a target to cover five lakh more farmers has been set.

In 2021-22, about Rs 7,296.17 crore was disbursed as crop loan and the estimated credit potential for 2022-23 is Rs 29,172 crore.

Sanctions have increased from Rs 510.59 crore in the financial year 2017-18 to Rs 1,134.33 crore in 2021-22.

Principal Secretary R. D. Nazeem, Principal Secretary Bharat Khera, Secretary Amitabh Awasthi, Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar Sharma, General Manager, HP Regional Office NABARD Dr. Sudhanshu K.K. Mishra, Special Secretary Rakesh Kanwar and other senior officers of various departments were also present in the meeting.  (KNN Bureau)