Institutional credit of ₹25.49 lakh crore disbursed to 17.09 crore farmers during 2023-24: Union Minister of State for Agriculture

The Union government has disbursed institutional credit of ₹25.49 lakh crore to 17.09 crore farmers during the financial year 2023-24. Of this an amount of ₹14.40 lakh crore has been disbursed to 13.06 crore Small and marginal farmers, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ramnath Thakur, has informed the Lok Sabha.

Replying to a question by Villupuram MP D. Ravikumar on Tuesday, Mr. Thakur said the government had made adequate provision of funds to implement credit-linked schemes to ensure required credit reaches the targeted and deserving beneficiaries.

The government has also taken several steps for deepening and widening of credit flow to farmers. “As per Priority Sector Landing (PSL) regulation, the government has mandated that banks will provide 18% of their total loans to agriculture and allied sector. Since 2016 a sub-limit has been fixed for small and marginal farmers which at present is 10%,” he said.

To ensure transparency, efficiency in administering Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) and timely disbursement of Interest Subvention, a digital platform namely Kisan Rin Portal (KRP) has been launched by the government for prompt settlement of claims. In addition, several other digital initiatives, like Krishi Nivesh, and eKCC have been launched for expeditious sanction of loans, the Minister said.