Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting to review the performance of eight Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) of the Eastern Region covering the four states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal in Patna, today.

Shri Samrat Choudhary, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar; Shri M. Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), ED, RBI; Chairpersons of RRBs and sponsor banks were also present during the meeting. Additional Secretary, DFS, representatives of NABARD and SIDBI and senior officers of participating states also attended the meeting.

The RRB review meeting focused on business performance, upgrading digital technology services, and fostering business growth in activities allied to agriculture and micro and small industry. Given the crucial role of RRBs in supporting the rural economy, the Union Finance Minister urged RRBs – with the active support of their sponsor banks – to increase credit disbursement under various Government of India flagship schemes such as MUDRA, PM Vishwakarma, etc.

Smt. Sitharaman directed RRBs to increase their share in ground level agriculture credit disbursement with special focus on allied agriculture activities like dairy, animal husbandry, fisheries etc. Union Finance Minister directed Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank to increase credit flow to fisheries and foxnut (makhana) to realise the full potential of these activities in the region.

The Union Finance Minister emphasised the importance of accelerating technology upgradation in RRBs the region to enhance efficiency and service delivery. She also noted improvement in financial parameters of these RRBs. Consolidated CRAR has improved from 7.8% in FY 2022 to 9.4% in FY 2024 and Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) have improved from 25% in FY 2022 to 15% in FY 2024. RRBs in Eastern Region have posted consolidated profit of Rs 625 crore during FY 2024 against net loss of Rs. 690 crore in FY 2023.

Shri Samrat Choudhary, Deputy Chief Minister Bihar, urged banks to increase number of branches in rural areas of state and improve CD ratio. He also urged banks to provide increased support to small scale industries and increase digitial transactions in rural areas.

Union Finance Minister highlighted huge potential of furthering financial inclusion in the region and urged sponsor banks in coordination with RRBs to saturate beneficiaries under Financial Inclusion schemes of Government of India viz. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), etc.

Smt. Sitharaman underlined importance of providing digital services of Internet Banking, Mobile Banking and UPI to customers of RRBs and directed these RRBs to complete onboarding of these services on priority by end of December 2024. She further urged RRBs to promote these services amongst their customers to increase their usage with help of respective sponsor banks.

Union Finance Minister stressed on the potential of One District One Product (ODOP) programme to increase self-employment in the region. She urged state government to extend support to banks for increasing credit flow to women SHGs and to join hands with NABARD and SIDBI to evolve them into enterprises. Financial Institutions were further directed to provide support for training and marketing linkages.

The Union Finance Minister also highlighted that sponsor banks and RRBs must recognise the challenges that lie ahead. Maintaining asset quality, expanding digital services, and ensuring robust corporate governance are the areas that require continued focus.

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NB/KMN