In a bid to support the agricultural industry, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday launched a common credit portal ‘SAFAL’ for farmers with access to 300 term loan products.
SAFAL is an abridged application for agricultural loans that will enable farmers and agri-entrepreneurs to access over 300 term loan products from more than 40 partner banks.
“SAFAL is a simplified application for agricultural loans and it is the country’s first online agricultural credit facilitation portal,” informed CMO through a press release.
Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik said the application could revolutionise credit provisions for farmers and agri-entrepreneurs.
COMMON CREDIT PORTAL FOR FARMERS
Elated over the launch of the portal, Patnaik said the application is a one-stop-solution for farmers and agri-entrepreneurs to avail credit from public and private sector banks, regional rural banks, state cooperative banks and small finance banks.
Besides, it has been integrated with Krushak Odisha as well as access to 70 plus model project reports, the CM said. It will ease the loan application process, benefiting both the farmers and banks significantly, stated the press release.
The portal will also reduce information asymmetry by sending farmers real-time notifications at every stage of their loan application, he assured.
CM further said that ‘SAFAL’ will also provide the government with complete visibility of demand and disbursal of formal credit across states and ensure schemes are designed in a data-backed manner.
He hoped that ‘SAFAL’ would be a facilitator of credit to spur the agriculture and allied sectors in the state, further increasing the economic prowess of farmers in the long run.
