New Delhi: The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has secured Euro 68.87 million (Rs 600 crore) loan from Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, for onward lending to cooperatives in the country.
An agreement was inked between NCDC and the German Bank in this regard in presence of the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar here today.
The Minister also presided over signing of an agreement between the Indian Chamber of Commerce and NCDC to boost farmers linkages with markets.
Tomar said that the Farmer Producer Organizations being set up in the country would be able to access easier credit and market through the NCDC agreements with ICC and Deutsche Bank, this will help small and marginal farmers.
This is for the first time that one of the largest European banks in the world is lending to the NCDC, thus reflecting the confidence of the global financial institution in the Indian development finance institution, particularly at a time when global economic turmoil created by the Covid-19 crisis has made lending a challenging proposition.
Deutsche Bank’s initiative in India is just one of the many key business interests shown by German companies in India over the years. Today, more than 1700 German companies are active in India, providing around 4, 00,000 direct and indirect jobs. Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and among India’s top ten global trade partners.
Set up in 1963, the NCDC is a development finance statutory institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It has extended loans to the tune of Euro 16 Billion to cooperatives of various sizes since 2014. With zero net NPA, NCDC has Pan India presence with its 18 regional directorates catering to all the States.
– global bihari bureau
