Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha that India’s agricultural credit system continues to be firmly anchored in its multi-tier cooperative banking structure, providing critical short-term and long-term finance support to crores of farmers across the country.
In a written reply, the Minister said agricultural credit is delivered through a three-tier cooperative framework comprising State Cooperative Banks (StCBs), District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). The National Federation of State Co-operative Banks Ltd. (NAFSCOB), working in coordination with the Ministry of Cooperation, functions as the national-level cooperative organisation supporting the operations of State and Central Cooperative Banks.
Citing NAFSCOB’s Annual Report 2024-25, Amit Shah stated that short-term agricultural credit is primarily channelled through the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme and the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS). KCCs currently facilitate short-term loans for nearly 7.7 crore farmers, including fishermen and dairy farmers.
During 2024–25 alone, cooperative banks issued over 3.34 crore KCCs, sanctioning credit amounting to Rs 2.20 lakh crore. Cumulatively, more than 53.63 crore KCCs have been issued by cooperative banks up to March 2025.
The Minister highlighted that states such as Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan recorded the highest number of KCCs issued during 2024–25. He further informed that PACS remain the backbone of grassroots agricultural lending, with 4.95 crore borrowing members as of March 31, 2024.
On long-term agricultural credit, Amit Shah said such financing is supported through instruments including the Long Term Rural Credit Fund (LTRCF) and targeted government initiatives. The PM-Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana is expected to facilitate access to both short-term and long-term credit for around 1.7 crore farmers.
NABARD continues to provide long-term refinance to StCBs for agricultural investment credit, with the refinance interest rate set at 5.50 per cent per annum for 2024–25. He added that 25 per cent of the fund corpus has been earmarked for districts with low credit flow.
The Minister also shared year-wise data on PACS borrowers, noting that borrowing levels have remained steady over recent years. In terms of operational credit, the aggregate credit limits utilised for Short-Term Seasonal Agricultural Operations (ST-SAO) through StCBs stood at Rs 32,085.60 crore in 2024–25, with Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan leading in utilisation.
Amit Shah underscored that the cooperative credit system continues to play a vital role in ensuring timely, affordable and accessible finance for India’s farming community.
