Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that out of the Rs 2 trillion concessional credits announced under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat package, nearly 70.32 lakh Kisan Credit Cards have been sanctioned with credit card limit of Rs 62,870 crore, as of June 30.
According to the Finance Ministry, the government has shelled out nearly Rs 25,000 crore to cooperative banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and microfinance institutions, under Rs 30,000 crores special liquidity facility by National Bank For Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). This will further boost 3 crore small and marginal farmers to meet their post-harvest and Kharif sowing needs.
Nirmala Sitharaman had also said that NABARD will extend additional refinance support of Rs 30,000 crore for crop loan requirement of rural cooperative banks and regional rural banks. The scheme is front-loaded with on-tap facility to 33 state cooperative banks, 351 district cooperative banks and 43 RRBs available on tap based on their lending.
The scheme is designed to meet post-harvest rabi (winter) and current kharif (summer) requirements of 30 million small and marginal farmers in the months of May and June.
In May, the Finance Minister had estimated to provide credit and relief to lockdown-hit farmers, including a Rs 2 trillion credit scheme to cover 2.5 crore farmers not possessing the Kisan Credit Cards. The move was announced to encourage such farmers to gain access to institutional credit at the concessional interest rate, and also cover fishermen and dairy farmers. The rough estimate was that if there are 9 crore PM Kisan beneficiaries, of that 2.5 crore farmers don’t have Kisan Credit Cards and with the help of this scheme, the government is trying to reach out to them.
Even a ₹30,000 crore additional emergency working capital was announced by funding through NABARD. The 30,000 crores additional emergency working capital was an addition to the ₹90,000 crores budgetary allocation announced on 1 February for NABARD.
