CM seeks bankers ideas on wealth creation

Hyderabad, May 30: Giving a call for financial innovations to generate wealth, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu today asked bankers to take Andhra Pradesh as a pilot state for new income-generating activities.

Elaborating on his vision to make Andhra Pradesh the best state by 2029, the Chief Minister asked bankers to increase lending to agriculture & allied activities, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), entrepreneurs and women of Self-help groups (SHG). He also sought their support for State Development Loans (SDLs).

'Given that the food habits of people are changing, there is rising demand for poultry, fish (aquaculture) and horticulture. Allied sectors (of agriculture) generate more jobs and hence, you can look at ways to lend to farmers relying on these activities,' he said.

The Chief Minister explained that the state has been able to generate nearly Rs 3,000 crore through transparent sale of seized Red Sandalwood under two phases (Phase 1- Nearly Rs 1,000 crore and phase 2 ' About Rs2,000 crore).

'While Barytes (Barite reserves) have fetched the government about Rs 5,000 crore, e-PoS (point of sale) in public distribution system has saved Rs45 crore to the state exchequer in a month,' he said, highlighting how the state government has been able to use this wealth for development of the state.

As a revolutionary step, the government's decision to hand over sand mining to women of SHGs has fetched about Rs 550 crore. This has not only led to streamlining of sand mining and sale, it has also made SHG women financial independent and has become a growth driver for AP, the Chief Minister said.

'About 90 lakh women in the state are part of SHGs with an accumulated corpus of Rs 3,850 crore. Some of these groups are, however, underperforming. I want every group to have a corpus and inculcate a culture of savings once they borrow money from banks. Savings have to go up and the best channel to propagate this is the SHGs,' the Chief Minister opined.

Principal Secretary (Finance) Dr. P.V. Ramesh, through a presentation, highlighted that banks are capable of stirring the economy. 'Banks can help us create a model where every family has a bank account and debit card (RuPay) which is linked with Unique ID (Aadhar card), has insurance and receives government benefits through this linkage model,' he added.

By August 2015, the state government will ensure distribution of RuPay cards to every family in the state. The RuPay card will have Unique ID number inscribed on it.

During the meeting, Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) CEO Solomon Arokhya Raj sought banks' support in lending to non-farm enterprises, provide RuPay cards to all SHG members and help in skilling women of SHGs to increase their productivity. He added that banks could provide capital grant of Rs 1 lakh to each SHG.

'The support could be provided for household activities where women make handicrafts at home or for cluster activities such as pickle-making, papad-making, etc or small enterprises. On field, banking correspondents can motivate women of SHGs to improve productivity and educate them on savings,' he added.

The Chief Minister also sought bankers' support at a macro-economic level where they can identify growth engines and push for growth of the state through SHGs. 'Can we work on a plan where our target of Rs 1 lakh-crore GSDP can be reached by generating income through 90 lakh SHG members?,' he asked, continuing, that such a plan would enable banks to brand themselves based on a growth driver identified by them.

'The new Capital city of Amaravati has numerous opportunities. You have to set up your bank branches there with best technology and also explore opportunities such as BPOs in finance. I aim to make the state a financial powerhouse. I need your cooperation,' he added.

Bankers responded positively to the Chief Minister's roadmap for growth and reiterated their interest in agriculture and allied activities and wealth creation through SHGs, giving a thrust to the financial inclusion plan.

During the meeting, the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) agreed to submit an action plan with 'financial inclusion innovations and growth drivers' in coordination with bankers in their next meeting.

State Planning Board vice-chairman Ch. Kutumba Rao, Principal Secretary (Finance) Dr. P.V. Ramesh, SLBC Convener D. Durga Prasad, officials from Centre for Good Governance, NABARD consultants and bankers from Andhra Bank, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India, Indian Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Canara Bank, Corporation Bank, IDBI Bank, etc were present at the meeting.