Agriculture: Centre to spend Rs 20,000 cr for Kisan Credit Card loans

As part of the KCC initiatives, the Centre will reintroduce schemes offering loans of up to Rs 3 lakh.

The agriculture minister along with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the Kisan Rin Portal (KRP), KCC Ghar Ghar Abhiyaan, an ambitious campaign aiming to extend the benefits of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme to every farmer across the nation and a manual on Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS).

These initiatives aim to revolutionize agriculture, enhance financial inclusion, optimize data utilization, and improve the lives of farmers across the nation.

Speaking on the occasion, Tomar highlighted that budget for the ministry of agriculture has been increased from Rs 23,000 crore in year 2013-14 to Rs. 1,25,000 crore in 2023-24.

Talking of WINDS manual, the minister said the aim is to ensure real time weather information so that farmers can take right precaution for their crops at the right time.

The use of technology and transparency is important for agriculture and this government has taken necessary steps in this regard.

There are around 9 crore beneficiaries under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and the aim of KCC Ghar Ghar Abhiyaan is to connect around 1.5 crore beneficiaries who are not yet connected to the KCC scheme.

The 'Kisan Rin Portal' has been launched to help farmers avail subsidised loans under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC). A door-to-door KCC campaign and a manual of the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) portal has also been launched.

As of March 30, there are approximately 7.35 crore Kisan Credit Card (KCC) accounts, with a total sanctioned limit of Rs 8.85 lakh crore, as stated in an official statement.

Government data reveals that between April and August of this fiscal year, agricultural credit amounting to Rs 6,573.50 crore has been disbursed at a subsidized interest rate.

To extend the benefits of the KCC, a door-to-door campaign will be launched to reach non-KCC holders who are beneficiaries of the central scheme PM-KISAN. This initiative grants Rs 6,000 annually to the bank accounts of identified beneficiary farmers.

As per the agriculture ministry, the Kisan Rin digital platform provides a comprehensive overview of farmer information, details about loan disbursements, claims for interest subvention, and the progress of scheme utilization.

This promotes seamless coordination with banks, leading to more targeted and efficient agricultural credit.

Delivering keynote address on the occasion, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the full cooperation of banks for the success of Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyan.

The finance minister commended the Ministry of Agriculture for its initiatives and successful implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

She said that over 1,40,000 crores of insurance amount has been disbursed to farmers so far against a premium amount of Rs. 29,000 crore.

She also appreciated real-time estimation for rice and wheat crop output and called for the estimation to be extended to Dalhan and Tilhan crops so that better planning can be done for their imports, if needed.

The finance minister said that real time estimation of crops will help the economy and ensure right prices for farmers at the end of crop season.

Sitharaman also called for full automation of regional rural banks and cooperative banks and directed the Department of Financial services to study the gap between loan sanction and loan disbursement for these banks.

Regarding the WIND portal, the ministry explained that it enhances the scope of the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) initiative.

Launched in July, this portal employs advanced weather data analytics to provide stakeholders with actionable insights on weather conditions, enabling well-informed decisions in agriculture.

This comprehensive manual also provides stakeholders with an in-depth understanding of the portal's functionalities, data interpretation, and effective utilisation, empowering farmers, policymakers and various agricultural entities to make well-informed choices.

It also caters to the parametric crop insurance scheme of the ministry, in addition to non-scheme parametric insurance programmes for crop risk mitigation and disaster risk reduction and mitigation being run by the insurance industry, the statement said.