National commercial banks in Bihar have a gigantic task of meeting the target of loan disbursement as part of annual credit plan (ACP) by the current fiscal's end since they have been able to achieve only 36.86% of the target up to September end.

This came to light in the 30th State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting held in Patna. Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi pointed out that the target for loan disbursement under the plan was Rs. 21,127.79 crore, but loan amounting to only Rs 7,788.53 crore could be disbursed by the banks till September during the current fiscal.

Consequently, the Credit- Deposit (CD) ratio of the state has been adversely affected. The ratio has been showing a declining trend since the 2007-08 fiscal. Modi said that the banks have been asked to raise the C-D ratio to 40 percent. C-D ratio till September end in the ongoing fiscal was 30.99%.

The total deposits with different banks in the state was Rs. 93,244 crore till September end, while only Rs. 30,412 had been given as advances which indicates that the banks have invested the remaining amount outside the state.

Modi also said that no private bank had disbursed even a single penny as loan. He revealed that ICICI's loan disbursement target was Rs 371 crore and that for HDFC was Rs. 183 crore. The banks, however, may have to change their policies regarding loan disbursement, given the strict directive of government.

The volume of educational loans granted to students had gone up till September 30 in 2008-09 fiscal. Loans amounting to Rs. 252 crore were given to 8,582 students, but in the corresponding period the current fiscal, loans worth Rs. 362 crore were given to 10,563 students.

The deputy CM said that the banks had agreed to lower the rates by 1 percent.