West Bengal’s credit-deposit (C/D) ratio, a key indicator of a state’s credit offtake, has inched-up to 68%, but was still below the national average of more than 70%.
West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who chaired the State Level Banker’s Committee meeting here on Saturday, told reporters that the C/D ratio of the state had increased from 67% to 68%.
“It was below the national average, which was little more than 70%,” he said.
The minister said that credit disbursements to the minority and the SC/ST sectors had increased considerably in the state.
Minority sector lending increased from 16% to 18% in the financial year 2014-15.
SME disbursements by the banks also increased by 92% as against other states which had registered around 40% rise, Mitra said.
Distribution of Kisan Credit Cards in the financial year 2015 increased to 17.31 lakh from 6.34 lakh in FY14.
Average credit given to the self-help groups (SHGs) increased from Rs 72,000 to Rs 90,000.
Mitra also said that he would convene four meetings in the coming two weeks to review the progress made on all these fronts again.Â