Jaipur, Feb 13 (PTI) Rajasthan is estimated to have a lending potential of Rs 4.88 lakh crore in priority sectors, including agriculture and MSMEs, during the next financial year beginning April, a state-focussed paper by NABARD said on Friday.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) assessed the priority sector credit potential in its State Focus Paper (SFP) for FY27, which was released at an event here.

Chief Secretary V Srinivas released the SFP along with two other papers titled 'Strengthening Infrastructure in Rajasthan under RIDF' and 'Success Stories of FPOs in the State'.

"The credit planning exercise undertaken in advance would help align financial institutions with the state's development priorities," the chief secretary said.

Referring to the state's annual budget for 2026-27 presented on Wednesday, Srinivas said that the focus of the budget is on enhancing household incomes and strengthening agriculture, rural roads, drinking water and renewable energy.

He called upon banks, departments and other stakeholders to work together to achieve the credit projections outlined in the SFP.

According to NABARD, the projected priority sector credit potential of Rs 4.88 lakh crore includes Rs 2.24 lakh crore for agriculture and allied activities, and Rs 2.27 lakh crore for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Shikhar Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary (Industries and MSME), said that the MSME sector plays a key role in industrial development, employment generation and value addition in rural and semi-urban areas.

The credit potential assessed in the SFP would serve as a benchmark for preparing the annual credit plan for priority sector lending in the state, NABARD Chief General Manager R Ravi Babu said.

"Block-wise credit potential has been estimated across sub-sectors, taking into account infrastructure and ground-level credit flow," he said.

Senior officials from the state government and the Reserve Bank of India also attended the event. PTI SDA HVA