Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has urged Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao to open several hundred more banks in the state meet the national figure of bank population ratio.

Mr. Gogoi said that 2,400 new bank branches should be opened in Assam to meet the national figure of bank population ratio of 13,147. He added that more villages with a population of 1000 to 2000 should be brought under the coverage of banks.

Assam has a total of 5,224 villages that have a population of 1000 to 2000, but only 1,039 of them have so far got bank branches.

Mr. Gogoi apprised the visiting RBI Gov. about the fact that several bank branches opened in rural areas had either been closed or moved to urban areas, causing hardships to people in rural areas.

Underling the need of more bank branches in rural areas, he added, "Opening of bank branches is required all the more for implementation of the direct cash transfer scheme."

He also said that the there was a need to initiate new measures to enhance the institutional credit in the agriculture sector. He underlined the fact that per capita credit flow is very low in Assam - just Rs 2,626, as compared with all India figure of Rs 15,379.

The chief minister also urged Mr. Subbarao to put in place a mechanism to ensure private sector banks' proper participation in priority sector lending (PSL).