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Bengaluru, Oct 22 (KNN) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a review meeting on the business performance of Karnataka Grameena Bank (KaGB). During the review, the Finance Minister assessed key performance indicators including credit growth, NPAs, financial inclusion, and implementation of government-sponsored schemes. She directed KaGB to increase ground-level agriculture credit, particularly in emerging areas, and advised collaboration with state government departments to enhance lending to MSMEs and allied sectors. M. Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS) noted the potential of agro-processing and MSMEs in the region and urged KaGB to collaborate with NABARD to enhance value creation for farmers in agriculture and allied sectors. He also proposed a future roadmap to collaborate with public sector banks (PSBs) to extend banking services to unserved and underserved areas. Sitharaman highlighted opportunities arising from the rationalisation of GST rates and urged rural banks to meet working capital needs of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) while upgrading products and services to suit their requirements. She also emphasised leveraging emerging sectors, such as companies relocating data centre services to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, to improve financial health. The Minister called on KaGB to expand its presence in the Kalyan Karnataka region, improve operational efficiency through technology adoption, strengthen customer service, and focus on asset quality to enhance profitability. She instructed engagement with local committees to improve screening under schemes like PM Vishwakarma and PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME).
