Bhubaneswar: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on Wednesday released its credit plan of Rs 71,419.85 crore for Odisha for the 2018-19 fiscal.

The state will spend the money in planned infrastructure projects, existing policies and schemes on demand and supply conditions.

Releasing the plan, chief minister Naveen Patnaik applauded Nabard's efforts for the state's overall development. He also released the State Focus Paper for the 2018-19 and the Area Development Scheme for 2018-2023. "I am happy to know that Nabard has provided developmental financial assistance of Rs 14,715 crore and during the current years, it is expected to cross Rs 16,000 crore."

Naveen said: "I would expect Nabard to further widen and sharpen its interventions in the state, resulting in intensification of the partnership with the government for agricultural assets, rural infrastructure and various other critical gap funding programmes."

Chief secretary A.P. Padhi congratulated Nabard for publishing a well-researched document and called for optimum exploitation of the credit potential. He, however, expressed concern about the negative growth in credit flow for agriculture and the MSME sectors during 2016-17 and requested banks to reverse the trend to ensure better inclusive growth. He highlighted the gaps in banking sector - poor network, declining credit deposit ratio.

Nabard's chief general manager K.C. Panigrahi, lauded its efforts for digitisation of self-help groups thorough e-Shakti in seven districts and launching water campaigns in 10 water-stressed districts for awareness about water conservation and efficient use.