SBI plans business incubator in Panaji

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2009-01-16
PANAJI- To help spawn new ideas and technologies for the benefit of startup enterprises, State Bank of India (SBI) proposes to facilitate an incubator in the design of a Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI) in the state capital, a gathering of top level bankers were told.
“Very little has been done to make the financial inclusion a success in the State of Goa. Greater focus is needed for various government sponsored schemes, which will actually be helpful to the common man, Mr Anand Prakash, Development Commissioner, told a meeting of State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), while reviewing the financial situation in Goa. He hoped that there will be an improvement shortly.
Mr Rajneesh Kumar, general manager, State Bank of India, Mumbai and the convener of the meeting, announced that SBI proposes to set up a RUDSETI at Panaji very shortly. Under Annual Credit Plan 2008-09, all banks in the state have shown performance to the extent of 40 per cent of the annual target under priority sector. This is 18 per cent more than the last years’ disbursement as on September 2007. An amount of Rs 44.84 crores to the agriculture sector, Rs 159.67 crores to the small scale industries sector and Rs 323.17 crores for the other priority sector has been disbursed by September 2008.
More concentrated efforts are needed during the remaining part of the current financial year to achieve the year end target of Rs.1317.54 crores, he appealed. Mr Rajneesh Kumar informed the meeting that the sponsoring of applications under various Government’s sponsored schemes is very poor. It is 20 per cent of the target in respect of Swam Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SJGSY) and merely 5 per cent in respect of Swam Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSR V). The sponsoring agencies need to gear up in this regard and achieve the year end target without fail, he added.
Dr. Amrendra Sahu, chief general manager, RBI, opined that the broadband network made available in the state would be very useful as the required data will be available at one place. Various other states which are yet to come to this stage are implementing the scheme to distribute the salaries of government employees through banks. All out efforts on the part of state government are needed to make the experiment successful. The banks will offer all the necessary cooperation in this regard, he assured.
Mr Arun Sandilya, general manager, NABARD, said that the share of agriculture is still large in the state of Goa and sizable number of peoples depend upon this sector.The dairy development, fish culture, and horticulture financing needs to be provided with serious attention, he said. Mr T B Satyanarayan, general manager, RBI, Mumbai called upon the sponsoring agencies of various government schemes to ensure that sufficient number of applications are made available, without which attaining the target will not be feasible.