Banks sanction loans worth Rs 63,574 crore through credit outreach programme

Banks have sanctioned Rs 63,574-crore loans to 13.84 lakh borrowers during the October 16-31 period through the credit outreach programme which was organised to improve credit access during the festive season. These in addition credit disbursed under various schemes such as the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.

Loan sanction by bank-wise

State Bank of India (SBI) sanctioned loans to 320,000 borrowers worth Rs 14,461 crore through the credit outreach programme, while HDFC Bank sanctioned Rs 8,421-crore loan to 51,806 borrowers, reported the Business Standard. Bank of Baroda sanctioned Rs 5,555 crore worth loans to 120,000 borrowers, it said, adding that regional rural banks extended credit worth Rs 5,399 crore to 260,000 borrowers.

Both public and private sector lenders participated in the credit outreach programme through 10,580 camps.

As many as 188,000 borrowers in Uttar Pradesh were sanctioned 8,655-crore worth of loans. In Gujarat loans worth Rs 8,503 crore was sanctioned to 61,139 borrowers.

Business loans accounted for 21,687 crore. The number of borrowers in this category was 320,000. Agricultural loans of Rs 16,734 crore were sanctioned to 710,000 borrowers.

More than 41,000 borrowers availed of housing loans worth Rs 8,994 crore.

Personal and consumer durable loans worth Rs 7,122 crore, and vehicle loans worth Rs 4,562 crore were sanctioned during the period, the newspaper reported.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had ordered banks to execute a credit outreach initiative in October to promote the resurgence of economic growth during the PSB review in August.

The Centre has also directed PSBs to focus on financial inclusion, enhance pension and insurance coverage, and employ financial technology (fintech) to give credit to borrowers through co-lending arrangements over the Christmas season.

For the first time in FY22, credit growth turned positive year-to-date (YTD) in September.

Credit growth turns positive

According to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), bank lending increased by Rs 7,283 crore until September 24, compared to a 1% decrease (or Rs 99,280 crore) in the same time last fiscal year (2020-21). As of September 24, outstanding bank credit totalled Rs 109.56 trillion.