Number of Kisan Credit Cards rises to 7.5 crore, loans jump to Rs 9.81 lakh crore

New Delhi: The Economic Survey highlights that providing adequate credit support to farmers, especially small and marginal farmers and vulnerable sections of society, is crucial to improving agricultural productivity and incomes in the agriculture sector.

It points out that as of March 2024, the country has 7.75 crore operational Kisan Credit Card (KCC) accounts with a loan outstanding of Rs 9.81 lakh crore. As of March 31, 2024, 1.24 lakh KCCs and 44.40 lakh KCCs were issued to fisheries and animal husbandry activities, respectively.

Starting from FY25, the claim processing under the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) has been digitised through the Kisan Rin Portal (KRP) for faster and more efficient capturing and settlement of MISS claims. By December 31, 2024, over 1 lakh crore claims have been processed. About 5.9 crore farmers that are currently getting benefitted under the MISS-KCC scheme, have been mapped through KRP.

The government has directed that banks must allocate 40 per cent of their Adjusted Net Bank Credit or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure, whichever is higher, to priority sectors, including agriculture in order to further support small and marginal farmers.

These measures have significantly reduced the reliance on non-institutional credit sources from 90 per cent in 1950 to around 25.0 per cent in FY22, the survey states.

It also underlines that ground-level credit (GLC) to agriculture has also shown impressive growth with a compound annual growth rate of 12.98 per cent from 2014-15 to 2024-25. The GLC has risen from Rs 8.45 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs 25.48 lakh crore in 2023-24. Within this, the share of small and marginal farmers has significantly increased from Rs 3.46 lakh crore (41 per cent) to Rs 14.39 lakh crore (57 per cent) from 2014-15 to 2023-24.

Besides, the survey also highlights the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana being made available to farmers. The participation of state governments and insurers has increased to 24 and 15, respectively, in FY25, up from 20 and 11 in 2020-21. Additionally, these interventions have contributed to a 32 per cent reduction in premium rates compared to previous years. As a result, in the FY24 period, the number of enrolled farmers reached 4 crore, a 26 per cent increase from 3.17 crore in the FY23 period. The insured area also expanded to 600 lakh hectares in FY24, reflecting a 19 per cent rise from 500 lakh hectares in FY23, the survey states.

Government initiatives like PM-KISAN, which provides direct income support to farmers, and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojna (PMKMY), which offers pension schemes for farmers, have also successfully contributed to bolstering farmers’ incomes and enhancing their social security safety nets. More than 11 crore farmers have benefitted under PM-KISAN and 23.61 lakh farmers had enrolled under PMKMY as of October 31, 2024. In addition to these efforts, reforms such as e-KYC compliance under the ONORC initiative and credit guarantee schemes for e-NWR financing address systemic inefficiencies that have historically plagued the agricultural sector, the survey added.

–IANS