-The Economic Times The government may increase the annual target of the banks for lending to the agriculture sector by 22% in the upcoming union budget to 7 lakh crore, in view of the revised classification of priority sector loans issued by the Reserve Bank of India. "Banks will be pushed to achieve their direct lending targets and focus on the new improved Kisan Credit Card scheme," said a finance ministry official,...

-The Business Standard Despite a marked improvement in the southwest monsoon, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said production of coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds and rice, to some extent, would be less than last year. For sugar, the cane area is more. But, Pawar said, some drop in production can be expected as farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra have diverted a sizeable portion of standing crop towards fodder. Announcing the second relief package...

-Outlook Government today decided to release Rs 10,901 crore to banks as interest subvention for giving crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers in the current fiscal. The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided "to continue interest subvention to Public Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Cooperatives Banks and Nabard to enable them to provide short- term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers at 7...

-Inclusion.in There is good news. And there’s bad news. The good news first. There’s been a bumper wheat crop and the granaries are overflowing. And the bad news? Where do we begin? A lot of that grain will rot. Millions will still remain hungry. Heavily in debt and distressed, farmers are committing suicide. Food prices are soaring. There’s more… Farmers don’t have money. Their land is too small and isn’t yielding much. Fertilisers and...

India is setting up a Rs.5,000 crore credit guarantee fund to facilitate easy education loans to needy students by providing protection against defaults to banks. The move was endorsed at a meeting of the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE), the highest education advisory body to the government that comprises academicians, industry experts and state education ministers, human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal told reporters Wednesday. “CABE members endorsed the initiative to...