Kolkata, Sep 4 (PTI) Banks in West Bengal have sanctioned Rs 5,350 crore of loans till the last week of August to businesses to tide over liquidity woes amid the COVID-19 crisis, an official said on Friday.

Public and private sector lenders have sanctioned the loans under the Centre's Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). At the national level, the amount stood at around Rs 1.60 lakh crore.

Also Read | Huawei Enjoy 20 Plus, Enjoy 20 5G Smartphones With MediaTek Dimensity 720 SoC Launched; Prices, Features & Specifications.

"In West Bengal, the total sum sanctioned is Rs 5,350 crore till August, and the disbursement amount is Rs 3,560 crore," State-level Bankers' Committee convener and Punjab National Bank CGM Ashwini Kumar Jha told PTI.

He said the loan figure under this category will rise as the Union finance ministry has granted some relaxations in the scheme, allowing more entities to be included under it.

Also Read | Chinese Sukhoi Fighter Jet Shot Down by Taiwan? Taiwanese Officials Call Report ‘Fake’ As Video With ‘False’ Claims Goes Viral.

Jha said for West Bengal, the annual credit plan in 2020-21 amounts to Rs 2.68 lakh crore, including Rs 77,236 crore for the agriculture segment, Rs 90,237 crore for MSMEs and Rs 33,127 crore for other primary sectors.

Credit in the non-primary segment is targeted at Rs 67,933 crore.

About Rs 15,400 crore has been disbursed to MSMEs between April 1 and June 30, officials said.

Jha also said lenders were committed to meet the 20- lakh new Kisan Credit Cards aim in the state by September 15. So far, about 12.2 lakh cards have been issued and 5.5 lakh applications are pending banks.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)