On Tuesday, S Niranjan Reddy, the minister of agriculture, advised banks to be more generous when issuing loans to farmers and to support the development of dairying, oil palm farming, and agri-based and food processing companies by providing loans.
Speaking to the State-level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting in the Hotel Marigold, he voiced worry about the banks' failure to disburse the full amount of loans intended for the agricultural sector during the financial year 2022–23, which was 63%.
He asked banks to support groundnut farming and the establishment of enterprises producing groundnut-based goods like peanut butter, which he claimed were in high demand in the US, Australia, and European nations due to the groundnuts' reputation for high quality in the Telangana region.
Even though the cost of rural properties has soared throughout the State, he claimed that banks were only taking urban properties into account when issuing loans. Also, he encouraged the banks to raise the Rs 7.5 lakh cap on loans for abroad study.
Amit Jhingran, the Chief General Manager of SBI's Hyderabad Circle, Ramakrishna Rao, Agricultural Commissioner M. Raghunandan Rao, Finance Secretary Ronald Rose, NABARD GM Y. Haragopaland others were present at the meeting.
Previously, the minister of agriculture had also warned the opposition parties from using the crop loss brought on by Telangana's recent unseasonal rains as a political talking point. He declared that the State administration would offer full assistance to farmers whose crops were destroyed by the recent unseasonal rains.
In a statement, Niranjan Reddy claimed that the State government had warned residents about the unusually heavy rains at least four days in advance. He also claimed that within 24 hours of the Vikarabad district's hailstorm and flooding, he had personally visited the farms and checked the crops.
Farmers and agriculture, according to Niranjan Reddy, continue to be the Telangana government's top priorities.
