Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah informed the Rajya Sabha that NABARD has disbursed more than Rs 5.55 lakh crore as refinance to cooperative banks over the past three financial years. This significant financial support aims to strengthen the cooperative credit structure and enhance ground-level production credit in the agriculture and rural development sectors.
Shah stated that NABARD’s refinance plays a vital role in supplementing the resources of cooperative banks, enabling them to increase their lending capacity to farmers and rural enterprises. The refinance is extended under both long-term and short-term categories, including support for Debt Recovery Agents.
Giving the year-wise breakup, the Minister shared that during 2022–23, NABARD disbursed Rs 15,239.90 crore under the long-term category and Rs 1,34,952.40 crore as short-term refinance, making a total of Rs 1,50,192.30 crore.
In the financial year 2023–24, the long-term refinance rose to Rs 19,214.62 crore, while the short-term refinance increased to Rs 1,61,154.74 crore, taking the total to Rs 1,80,369.36 crore.
In 2024–25, NABARD disbursed Rs 14,859.95 crore under long-term refinance and Rs 1,80,309.46 crore under short-term refinance. The total refinance for the year stood at Rs 1,95,169.41 crore.
For the ongoing financial year 2025–26 (as of 15 July 2025), the refinance disbursed so far includes Rs 702.23 crore in the long-term category and Rs 32,179.58 crore in the short-term category, amounting to Rs 32,881.81 crore.
