Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Apr 17 : The Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have not been able to bring non-banking financial companies and micro finance institutions to Jammu & Kashmir.
Documents show that J&K Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta has expressed displeasure over poor performance of public sector banks in bringing NBFCs/ MFIs to J&K.
“Chief Secretary expressed displeasure over low pace in bringing NBFCs/ MFIs to J&K by public sector banks and impressed upon PSBs especially State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank to do something concrete in the matter,” reads minutes of 9th Union Territory Level Bankers committee (UTLBC) held on March 03, a copy of which is with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
Out of 12 PSBs operating in Jammu & Kashmir, only State Bank of India has succeeded in bringing one NBFC Midland Microfin Ltd to J&K which started its operations on December 12, 2022, the record note of the UTLBC reveals.
The UTLBC decided that Public Sector Banks will expedite the submission of precise plans with timelines and milestones, for bringing NBFCs/ MFIs to UT of J&K.
The UTLBC also constituted a sub-committee for greater presence of NBFCs/MFIs in J&K. The committee will comprise representatives from SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, UCO Bank and Union Bank of India.
The issue had also come up for discussion in the last UTLBC held on October 19, 2022.
It is worthwhile to mention that banks were directed to initiate dialogue for bringing in more non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and micro financial institutions (MFIs) to UT of J&K, and explore partnership with them to augment credit in the UT through co-lending model—(KNO)
