By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 30: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has projected a credit potential of Rs 3,910.91 crore for Meghalaya under priority sector lending by banks for the financial year 2025-26.
According to NABARD, the estimated credit allocation includes Rs 1,461.21 crore (37.36%) for the agriculture sector, Rs 2,063.64 crore (52.77%) for the MSME sector and Rs 386.07 crore (9.87%) for other priority sectors, including housing and education loans.
“The main focus for the FY 2025-26 is strengthening of rural infrastructure, particularly roads, storage, agro/food processing facilities, and promotion of agro-climatic resilient practices,” said NABARD in a statement, which was released during a workshop here.
Additional Chief Secretary Dr. P. Shakil Ahammed, who attended the workshop as chief guest, released the State Focus Paper for 2025-26, prepared by NABARD, during the State Credit Seminar held in Shillong.
While addressing the gathering, he lauded NABARD’s efforts in rural development and urged stakeholders to engage directly with communities to understand challenges and opportunities better.
On the other hand, General Manager and Officer-in-Charge (OIC), JR Blah, highlighted Meghalaya’s achievements in the agriculture and MSME sectors during 2023-24.
She also spoke about NABARD’s digital initiatives, including the establishment of a Data Integrity Centre at its head office to support policy advocacy, action research, and development projects. The introduction of digital Potential Linked Plans (PLP), digital State Focus Papers (SFP), and the e-Kisan Credit Card (eKCC) portal this financial year are part of this transformation.
The OIC further informed that dovetailing of the Annual Credit Plan (ACP) 2024-25 with SFP 2024-25 stood at 95.72%, and urged the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) to align ACP targets for 2025-26 with the State Focus Paper 2025-26, particularly in agriculture and MSME lending. This is crucial for Meghalaya’s goal of achieving a USD 10 billion economy by 2028.
It may be mentioned that the seminar was attended by senior officials of various government departments, banks, RBI, Lead District Managers, SLBC representatives, NGOs and other stakeholders.