Nabard earmarks Rs 860 crore for rural development in Kerala

Kochi: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has set a target of more than Rs 860 crore to give to the Kerala government for rural infrastructural development and the state financial institutions as credit for refinance this year.

The bank also plans to give micro-credits to more than 10,000 new self-help groups in the state, Nabard chief general manager for Kerala B S Shekhawat said.

Releasing the perspective for the year 2003-04 in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday on the eve of the 21st anniversary of Nabard, Shekhawat said short-term investment credits worth Rs 315 crore have been earmarked for the rubber, tea and coconut plantations and poverty alleviation programmes.

Credit to the tune of Rs 367 crore will be distributed to regional rural banks for financing crop production and the marketing activities of weavers, artisans and coir workers.

The bank also plans to mobilise resources of more than Rs 15 crore in the state from the urban areas for eventual investment in the rural areas. The resource mobilisation will be through capital gains bonds, which will provide attractive interest rates and also exemption from the capital gains tax, he added.