Rs 9,162 cr financial aid provided by NABARD to WB in FY20-21

10 May 2021 CW Team

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) gave a financial aid of Rs 9,162 crore to West Bengal in FY2020-2021 for the development of allied and agriculture divisions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The development bank told the media that the financial aid involved a Rs 1,269.2 crore loan to the state government for several rural infrastructure developments, a long-term refinance support to the Rural Financial Institutions (RFIs) of Rs 3,842.3 crore and refinance for short-term to RFIs.

According to the bank, throughout 2020-21, it approved 2,284 brand-new rural infrastructure plans such as rural bridges, roads, minor and medium irrigation schemes, protection from flood plans, solar power plants, and Anganwadi centres with RIDF loan aid of Rs 1,659.6 crore to the Government of West Bengal.

On implementation, the projects will head to the formulation of 857 km length of rural roads and 129 m long bridges, which will benefit 949 villages, and positively affect around 70 Lakh people in the rural areas.

For 2021-22, it has evaluated a credit potential of Rs 2.2 lakh crore for West Bengal, to be distributed by various banks for the prioritised sector activities, Dr A R Khan, Chief General Manager, NABARD, West Bengal, told the media.

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