Naidu: Will create 1L women entrepreneurs by March 2026
Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu being greeted at the State-Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting in Amaravati on Tuesday
Amaravati: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday appealed to bankers to upgrade and adopt people-friendly policies, urging them to become partners in the state government's ‘P-4’ programme aimed at bridging the gap between the rich and the poor.
Addressing the 232nd State-Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting here, the Chief Minister said that as he previously promoted ‘one family, one software engineer’, his government is now championing the ‘one family, one entrepreneur’ initiative. He specifically asked for cooperation to empower women, with a goal of creating one lakh women entrepreneurs by March 8, 2026.
The Chief Minister highlighted the success of DWCRA women’s self-help groups in achieving economic progress with bank loans and urged banks to continue this support by extending loans to women entrepreneurs. He pointed out that the government plans to establish MSME parks in all 175 assembly constituencies to fuel this growth.
He also called on banks to encourage youth and women by providing low-interest financial assistance to startups, linking with the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub and its five regional centres.
Naidu opined that banks must modernise their policies to meet the needs of the next generation, as India prepares to challenge global economic leaders like China and the USA with its reforms. He stated that both banking and public policies should empower people, not dictate terms to them.
Citing the example of delays in loans for the Kharif season, the Chief Minister said that half of the season has already passed, and farmers should have received their loans by now, emphasizing that sanctioning loans at the end of the crop season serves no purpose. He asked bankers to extend loans to farmers before the start of the crop season. The Chief Minister appealed to bankers to provide funding for the state's large-scale infrastructure and irrigation projects.
He mentioned that the government is developing Andhra Pradesh as a logistics hub to reduce logistics costs from the current 14 per cent to a single digit. He noted that several projects, including port development, are being undertaken under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model at a cost of Rs 3 lakh crore.
He urged banks to establish a ‘financial district’ in the Amaravati capital, stating that the government is ready to allocate the necessary land.
He specifically requested bankers not to cause trouble for Amaravati farmers by delaying loans on their returnable plots.
M Nagaraju, Secretary of the Union Ministry of Finance, praised the performance of bankers in Andhra Pradesh compared to other states.
He welcomed the Chief Minister's suggestion to extend loans to farmers before the start of the crop season. He also announced that a memorial park for Andhra Bank founder Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramaiah will be developed in Machilipatnam.
According to the annual credit plan, banks have extended loans totaling Rs 2,47,919 crore to various sectors, including Rs 94,666 crore for agriculture, Rs 49,831 crore for the MSME sector, and Rs 1,00,278 crore for other sectors, which includes Rs 985 crore for tenant farmers.
