non - banking financial companies ( nbfcs ) in this region have found a balanced answer to skirt around these hurdles and their flow to this sector has recorded good growth in recent times. perhaps, the banking sector can also find such a balance. • fourth, another speciality of this region is the preponderance of non - formal and informal, but riskier avenues for savings. this region is replete with history of the socalled blade companies, varieties of formal and informal chit funds, ponzi schemes, emu farms and other types of attractive schemes. these schemes have time and again captured the imagination of gullible, and even not - so - gullible people of this region, very often lured them into losing their hard earned savings. these ever running episodes only clearly establish the failure of the formal financial system, including the banking system, in catering to the savings, investment and risk taking needs and appetite of these masses. they very pithily indicate that there are savings to be mobilised in an orderly manner ; and there are people whose risk appetite is more than ordinary or normal and the formal financial system can offer them well regulated risky financial products. the banking system should come out with innovative and customized savings and financial products. this way they can balance their business opportunities with the niche needs of these people in the region. • fifth, another speciality of this region is very note worthy and heartening. that relates to the number of self help groups ( shgs ), especially of the women which operate in this region. in fact, the southern region leads by leaps and bounds in this respect. the readiness, the enthusiasm and the dedication and discipline of these women shgs are the backbones of their success. in the wake of their successes, certain unhealthy practices and certain overreactions to them had resulted in a slowdown, even in stoppage of credit flow to this segment. further, quite many shgs, before they have matured enough to handle credit and finance, have been exposed to credit. concomitantly, the credit discipline that had been assiduously built painstakingly over the years has been ruptured. restoring that spirit, while ensuring continued flow of credit is another balance the banking system has to find. conclusion 20. now, to conclude, we have seen how the regional economy did a turnaround in the post reform and financial inclusion period as compared to the pre - reform period ; the regional

form of product, service or application by agri - start - ups can build up a smart agriculture value chain that will enhance the sustainability of agriculture. agri - start - ups may focus on some key areas such as supply chain, infrastructure development, finance related solutions, farm data analytics and information platforms. in my opinion, agri - start - ups can succeed and can be scaled up only in a conducive ecosystem, which is possible if agri - business industry comes forward and deepens its engagement with agri - start - ups. conclusion 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches 18. i would like to summarise that in the past, indian agriculture faced a formidable challenge to grow more food. today, we are a food surplus country and a net exporter of many agriculture and allied products. this requires the government policies related to agriculture to be shifted from that of managing food scarcity to managing food surplus. today, agriculture in india faces an even more demanding challenge : to grow agri - produce sustainably, inclusively and responsibly. this can be achieved when all the stakeholders align their policies and actions towards the sdgs. as far as financing of agriculture is concerned, going forward, banks will have to integrate ‘ sustainability ’ into their business strategy and decision - making processes in order to support environmentally responsible and sustainable projects in the agriculture sector. for this, banks will have to undertake innovative agricultural financing models so that environment friendly and sustainable projects can be supported. with this, i conclude and wish you all the best. 1 1 data. worldbank. org / indicator / sl. agr. empl. zs 2 2 various reports of mospi 3 3 economic survey 2018 – 19, volume ii, chapter 7 ‘ agriculture and food management ’ 4 4 rbi report of the internal working group to review agricultural credit, 2019 5 5 agriculture census 2015 – 16 6 6 agriculture census 2015 – 16 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches