Assam: Be active stakeholders in state’s economic growth, Dispur to banks

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam government has appealed to the banks operating in the state to be active stakeholders in the ongoing economic development in the state. The government expressed confidence that the cooperation of banks will help reach rural and marginalised communities in the state.

Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma held talks with the heads of SBI, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, and Indian Bank on the contributions of the banks in the economic development of Assam. The chief minister urged the bank heads to cooperate in a whole of schemes launched by the state government to make women, youth, farmers, and others self-reliant.

In the past few years, the credit-deposit ratio (CDR) of banks in the state improved much. The CDR in Assam was around 32 percent eight/nine years ago, which is around 70 percent now. The state government wants to reach 80 percent CDR by the next financial year.

The Chief Minister urged the bank authorities to simplify the loan disbursal process for young entrepreneurs and farmers. The Chief Minister also instructed the Agriculture Department to ensure credit card delivery to farmers and smooth loan processing through local banks.

During the meeting, the government sent a clear message to ensure that banks work collaboratively with the government to foster inclusive growth.

The aggregate deposit with scheduled commercial banks in Assam, which was Rs 2,11,379 in March 2023, increased to Rs 2,23,478 crore in March 2024. The total volume of credit disbursed by the banks increased to Rs 1,47,894 crore in March 2024 from Rs 1,13,840 crore in March 2023, registering a growth of 29.91 percent. With the increase in bank networking, the dependence on per-bank offices in Assam has been considerably decreased over the years and reduced from 38.31 sq km as of March 2015 to 24.83 sq km as of March 2024. As per the 2011 Census population, the average population served per bank branch in the state as of March 31, 2024, was 10,103 persons against the all-India average of 8,839 persons per bank branch.

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