The “Northeast Banking Conclave” was organised by Ministry of Development for the North Eastern Region, North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFi) and State Bank of India with Confederation of Indian Industry the Industry Partner on Friday in New Delhi.
G Kishan Reddy, Minister of Development for the North Eastern Region, while inaugurating the event said, the North Eastern Region has unique challenges which require innovative practical solutions.
He said, the MSMEs are the backbone of the economy of region and rooted in the greater vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
“Banks should prioritise support and promote MSMEs and Start Ups in the North East” he said adding that the connectivity and transport infrastructure had improved in the region. And steps were taken to connect all state capitals by Railway by 2024. The minister pointed out that there had been an increase of 113 per cent in air traffic through 17 airports in the region including three international airports.
Dr Bhagwat Karad, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance in his address mentioned that the Prime Minister had decided to improve the per capita income of the people of the North Eastern region. Government schemes on Financial Inclusion were doing well and there was an increase in Credit growth by 85 per cent. There were also substantial improvements in CD ratio, which were, indeed, a good sign for the region. He mentioned that the banking Infrastructure needed to strengthen further including opening digital banks in the North East.
While addressing the delegates B L Verma, Minister of State, Ministry of Development for the North Eastern Region spoke about the various initiatives being taken by the DoNER to improve per capita income in the North East. He added that Banks and Financial institutions played a critical role in implementing the financial inclusions.
Lok Ranjan, Secretary to DoNER said that there was a need for more directed resources for accelerated development of NER.
“It is necessary to tap more financial resources for the NE region. There is conscious effort to work with various stakeholders so that various resources are channelized towards the development of the region”, he added.
PVSLN Murty, Chairman and Managing Director of NEDFi gave the vote of thanks in the programme.
