In the rbi’s report, Deposit insurance continues to be a critical pillar of India’s financial safety net, particularly for co-operative banks that serve millions of small depositors. The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, extended deposit insurance coverage to 1,982 banks as on March 31, 2025, of which a dominant 1,843 were co-operative banks.
Co-operative banks accounted for nearly 93 per cent of all insured banks, underlining their significance in the deposit insurance framework. Insured deposits of co-operative banks rose to Rs 7.73 lakh crore in 2024-25 from Rs 7.46 lakh crore a year earlier. However, the insured deposits ratio (IDR) for co-operative banks declined marginally to 61.9 per cent from 63.3 per cent, reflecting faster growth in overall assessable deposits.
Among co-operative banks, Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) continued to form the largest segment, with insured deposits of Rs 3.80 lakh crore, followed by District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs) at Rs 3.26 lakh crore and State Co-operative Banks (StCBs) at Rs 66,285 crore. All three categories saw a slight moderation in their IDRs during the year.
The deposit insurance fund with DICGC strengthened further, with its balance rising 15.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2.29 lakh crore at end-March 2025. During 2024-25, DICGC settled claims worth Rs 476 crore, providing timely protection to depositors, many of them in the co-operative banking sector.
