. therefore, priority should be given to the development of infrastructure, especially roads and also provision of post harvest management, cold storage and processing facilities. there is also the need to further harness the hydro - power capacity. better accessibility will also help develop the services sector, particularly tourism, which could become a significant source of employment and revenue. finally, the topography of the state and infrastructure bottlenecks together work as a deterrent for the development of physical banking and financial infrastructure. hence, greater reliance may need to be placed on technology to make banking more accessible to the majority of the population. this will require improvement in telecommunication facility. i thank you for inviting me to share my thoughts on financial inclusion in the state. tomorrow, i hope to see some of you at our outreach programme at tanhril village. with the combined effort of state administration, banks and the reserve bank we could together make a significant impact in financial inclusion. bis central bankers ’ speeches

india. since december 2009, the domestic scheduled commercial banks in the country, excluding rrbs, were permitted to open branch in any location in the region without taking permission from the reserve bank. let me now turn specifically to progress of financial inclusion in mizoram. bis central bankers ’ speeches as a part of the financial inclusion plan ( fip ) adopted in mizoram, all the unbanked villages in the state with population of 2, 000 or more have been covered by banking facility by endmarch 2012. another 700 villages having population below 2, 000 have already been identified. out of these villages, 106 have been proposed to be covered through brick and mortar model while rest would be covered through business correspondence ( bc ) model. as at end - september 2013, there were 2, 27, 812 basic saving bank deposit accounts ( bsbdas ) in mizoram, while another 10, 777 such accounts with overdraft facilities are targeted to be opened during the year 2013 – 14. in addition, 11, 642 kcc and gcc are targeted to be provided to the households during 2013 – 14. out of the 8 districts in the state, so far 5 financial literacy centres ( flcs ) have been opened. as of end - september 2013 cumulatively 3, 063 self help groups ( shgs ) were credit - linked and have been provided with total credit of ₹1, 650 lakh. policy challenges mizoram economy has performed well in the recent years. however, keeping in view the young population and high literacy and strategic location, there is considerable scope for growth and development. let me conclude by drawing attention to a few challenges. first, the dominant feature of the hill and mountain farming in mizoram is sloping marginal farmlands under rain - fed farming. subsistence farming on these lands is pervasive. expansion of land for cultivation in an environmentally sustainable manner may be limited. the emphasis in agriculture, therefore, may shift towards high value added horticulture for which there is tremendous potential. this will also require greater penetration of credit in agriculture. second, industrial development in mizoram started late in the 1990s, mainly after attaining statehood. the industrial landscape is dominated by micro and small industries. there is a need to reinforce this process by facilitating access to markets and formal credit. third, weak market linkages with the rest of india coupled with lack of good quality road and absence of railway network inhibits the effective marketing of goods