SBI is the lead banker in 48 districts across the country

The first phase the outreach programme by the banks to provide credit to retail customers and small businesses will be rolled out in 250 districts from Thursday. The launch of "loan melas" is aimed at meeting the demand of borrowers during the festival season. In a period of four days starting October 3, agriculture, vehicle, home, education and personal loans will be sanctioned to retail customers as well as micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on the spot. (Also read: There's No Liquidity Crisis, Says Nirmala Sitharaman After Meeting Bank Chiefs)

Banks including State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Corporation Bank will participate in the programme to take advantage of festival season demand.

SBI is the lead banker in 48 districts across the country, whereas Bank of Baroda is the lead banker in 17 out of 250 districts in the first phase.

Bank of Baroda has announced the "Baroda Kisan Pakhwada" event from October 1 to October 16 during which most of its branches would focus on promoting farm loans.

During the annual performance review earlier this month, public sector banks decided to undertake the outreach exercise in 400 identified districts. Later, the private sector too expressed the willingness to join the initiative.

This is part of the systematic bank reform process which envisioned taking banks to the doorsteps of customers.

These camps will provide a one-stop destination for MSMEs, small retail businesses and end-customers to access all banking services, especially loans in the auto, home, personal and business sections.

The drive will help businesses gear up for the festive season, and also provide ready cash in the hands of consumers.

Needless to say, all prudent financial norms and due diligence will be followed by public sector banks while disbursing loans, a top official of the public sector bank said.

Awareness camps will be held in these districts to let people know about the event.

For spreading information, the banker said, local vendor associations, commercial organisations and chambers of commerce may also be engaged to spread the message among merchants and customers.

In line with the government's Digital India initiative, the "loan melas" will focus on financial inclusion schemes and digital payment methods to encourage consumers and merchants to increasingly shift to these payment modes, the sources said.

Apart from public sector banks, non-banking financial companies, housing finance companies, microfinance institutions, the Small Industries Development Bank of India and private sector banks can also participate in the scheme.

The second phase will be in 150 districts and will be held between October 21 and October 25, just before Diwali.