Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Anu Garg on Saturday stressed the need for aligning credit flow across sectors with the Odisha Vision Document, while calling for a sharper focus on emerging and priority areas to ensure balanced and inclusive growth in the State.
The observation was made at the 183rd State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) meeting of Odisha for the quarter ended March 2026, held at Hotel Vivanta Taj in Bhubaneswar.
Addressing the meeting, the Chief Secretary said credit deployment must be strategically aligned with the State’s development priorities, with emphasis on sectors such as tourism, agri-entrepreneurship, deep-sea fishing, and food processing industries. She underlined that such alignment is essential to strengthen Odisha’s growth trajectory in line with its long-term vision.
Garg further called for greater focus on the service sector in the next phase of credit expansion, noting its potential to generate employment and support economic diversification. She also stressed the need to improve Ease of Doing Business in order to facilitate investment and promote enterprise growth in the State.
Highlighting inclusive development, the Chief Secretary said credit flow should actively support women’s entrepreneurship and encourage the transition of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) into Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). She urged all controlling banks, Lead District Managers (LDMs), government departments, and district administrations to work in close coordination to achieve the credit targets set for the current financial year.
Reiterating the State’s governance approach, she called for a shift from a “Red Tape to Red Carpet” framework to ensure a more investor-friendly and efficient credit ecosystem.
Principal Secretary, Finance Department, Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra, stressed the need for full adoption of Central Know Your Customer (CKYC) norms across the banking system.
Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Government of India, Shalini Pandit, highlighted the importance of improving the credit-deposit (CD) ratio to bring it at par with the national average. The Regional Director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) urged banks to expand their rural banking network to improve financial inclusion.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from the State and Central governments, including Secretaries of Tourism, Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Handloom, Textile & Handicrafts, MSME, and Mission Shakti departments, along with representatives of RBI, NABARD, UCO Bank, SLBC convenor, and senior officials of various banks.
Top-performing banks and districts were also felicitated during the meeting for their performance in credit delivery and financial inclusion initiatives.