Bhubaneswar: NABARD in Odisha has achieved a record performance during the year 2017-18 by giving a total financial support of Rs 17,195 crore to the state government, banks and corporations. Developmental financial assistance by NABARD in the state of Odisha, which was Rs 8368 crore during 2015-16, more than doubled in a period of 2 years.
Under RIDF, NABARD disbursed concessional loan of Rs 2,512 crore to the state government for projects like irrigation, roads, bridges in rural areas. Cumulatively, NABARD has extended financial assistance of about Rs 15,000crore in the state under RIDF, which has resulted in bringing in an estimated 23 lakh Ha of area under irrigation and construction of roads and bridges having length of about 10,000 KMs and about 1.15 lakh metres, respectively.
NABARD by way of Short Term Refinance refinanced cooperative banks and RRBs to the tune of Rs7,930 crore in the state. Similarly, to promote capital formation in agriculture, NABARD disbursed Long Term Refinance of Rs. 804 crore to commercial banks, Odisha State Cooperative Bank and one MFI during the year. Besides, Rs. 56 crore was extended on soft terms to the Odisha State Cooperative Bank under LTRCF (Long Term Rural Credit Fund), a dedicated fund instituted by Govt. of India in NABARD.
Introducing a direct lending window for agriculture sector, NABARD has disbursed an amount of Rs. 4585 crore to the Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation for its paddy procurement operations, during the year 2017-18.
During the year, 5 Watershed Development Projects were sanctioned for implementation in the state. Cumulatively, a total of 109 watershed projects are under implementation in the state, as at the end of March 2018, with financial assistance of Rs. 50.34 crore and benefitting 24,000 families and an area of nearly 83,000 Ha. A collaboration with KFW, NABARD has sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 1.76 crore for implementation of 18 climate proofing projects in completed/near completed watersheds in 4 districts of the State.
A total of 56 tribal development projects are under implementation in the state, as at the end of March 2017, with total financial support of Rs108.26crore for plantation activities, soil and moisture conservation works, irrigation development and livelihood support, benefitting more than 46,000 tribal families. Out of these, 10 projects are being implemented in convergence mode with Royal Bank of Scotland Trust, Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust (SDTT), CiNi and Juang Development Authority, Odisha government, and Axis Bank Foundation.
