Banks must reach farmers, says Telangana Dy CM Bhatti Vikramarka

Hyderabad, Aug 19 (TNT): Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka on Wednesday called upon banks to align their lending strategies with the State’s goal of transforming Telangana into a $1 trillion economy by 2034 and a $3 trillion economy by 2047.

Addressing the 50th State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) meeting at Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan here, Bhatti said the targets could not be achieved through government expenditure alone and required large-scale private investment, strong financial institutions, deeper financial markets and innovative financing mechanisms.

He said Telangana Rising 2047 should be treated as a development compact with the people and stressed the need for a future-oriented banking strategy aligned with its objectives.

The Deputy Chief Minister said banks should assess the outcomes of lending rather than merely review whether assigned targets had been achieved.

The impact of loans on industrial growth, employment generation, agricultural productivity, rural incomes and private investment should be the real measure of banking performance, he said.

Bhatti said agriculture and rural sectors were the foundation of Telangana’s economy and farmers should receive credit when it was required.

“Farmers should not have to search for banks for loans; the banking system itself should reach the farmers,” he said.

He called for dairy, fisheries, horticulture, oil palm, food processing and other allied activities to be brought into the formal credit system. The objective should be to ensure that credit translates into higher and sustainable farm incomes, he said.

If a farmer was unable to repay a loan, banks should examine the reasons behind the decline in income instead of focusing only on recovery, Bhatti said.

Credit strategies should take into account productivity, market access, post-harvest infrastructure and working capital requirements.

He noted that banks had disbursed Rs 52,337 crore in agricultural loans as of June 2026 and stressed that timely disbursement was equally important.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the MSME sector would be critical to Telangana’s economic growth and stressed that entrepreneurs needed funds when required rather than merely loan sanctions.

He directed banks to establish clear and measurable timelines for loan applications, sanctions and disbursements.

Bhatti appreciated the approval of 16,265 proposals worth Rs 4,463 crore during the current quarter under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).

Banks should not insist on collateral for loans sanctioned under CGTMSE or cause inconvenience to entrepreneurs, he said.

Bhatti called for region-specific lending strategies based on the CURE, PURE and RARE approaches under Telangana Rising 2047.

CURE areas should receive financing for sectors such as AI, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, startups and knowledge-based industries.

PURE areas would require financing for manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, industrial clusters, housing and infrastructure.

For RARE areas, the focus should be on timely and affordable credit for agriculture, food processing, dairy, fisheries and rural industries, he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister said nearly 19.13 lakh Jan Dhan accounts in Telangana had zero balance and stressed that financial inclusion should go beyond opening bank accounts.

Account holders should be encouraged to access savings, insurance and credit facilities, he said.

He directed banks to activate inactive Business Correspondents in villages or make alternative arrangements to ensure banking services reach every village.

He also called for women’s Self-Help Groups to be developed into micro-enterprises through “enterprise finance” rather than limiting them to bank linkages.

Bhatti assured bankers that the State government would ensure timely release of reimbursements due to banks under various government schemes and appealed to the banking sector to become active partners in the development of Telangana.

At the SLBC meeting, Bhatti proposed a “Telangana Rising 2047 Banking Roadmap” with annual targets for agriculture and productivity-based lending, MSME and startup finance, women entrepreneurs, rural industries, employment-oriented credit for youth, green and climate finance, digital financial inclusion, reduction of inter-district credit disparities, long-term infrastructure finance and financing for new industries and technology sectors.

Panchayat Raj Special Chief Secretary Danakishore, Finance Principal Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania, SERP CEO Divya, NABARD CGM Chinmay Kumar, SBI CGM Nilesh Dwivedi, SLBC Convener Satish Kumar, TRANSCO CMD Krishna Bhaskar, DFS Director Manasa Gangotri and other senior officials attended the meeting.

TNT TS