Page 49 - BANKING FINANCE NOVEMBER 2023

ARTICLE

Table 2: Branches of Scheduled Commercial Banks in India

SCBs* March 2006 March 2020 March 2021 Dec 2022
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Rural 28167 39.11 52457 33.52 52767 33.33 53953 33.42
Semi-urban 16676 23.07 42689 27.28 43543 27.50 44444 27.53
Urban 12611 17.44 29856 19.07 30626 19.34 31178 19.32
Metropolitan 14726 20.38 31507 20.13 31385 19.83 31843 19.73
TOTAL 72280 100 156509 100 158321 100 161418 100

SCBs: Scheduled Commercial Banks Ref: RBI website

Steps to improve the agriculture sector exclusively caters to the movement of perishable agricultural
and horticultural commodities. The Cluster Development
in the country: Program (CDP) has promoted integrated and market-led
The agriculture sector in India has grown at an average development for horticulture clusters. Support for creating
annual growth rate of 4.6 percent during the last six years. a Start-up ecosystem in agriculture and allied sectors is also
This growth is attributable to good monsoon years and being provided to the farmers. All these measures are
various reforms undertaken by the Government to enhance directed towards supporting the growth in agricultural
agricultural productivity. Many government-sponsored productivity and sustaining its contribution to overall
programs for sustainable agriculture have been economic growth in the medium term (Economic Survey,
implemented. Soil Health Cards, the Micro irrigation Fund, 2022-23).
and organic and natural farming have helped the farmers
optimize resource use and reduce cultivation costs. The New Initiatives by the financial
promotion of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and the
National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) extension Platform institutions for agriculture lending:
have empowered farmers, enhanced their resources, and After going through the recent developments in the
enabled them to get good returns on their farm produce. agriculture lending landscape and the introduction of
technology for financing the agriculture sector by the
The Agri Infrastructure Fund (AIF) has supported the different financial institutions, the below-mentioned points
creation of various agriculture infrastructures. Kisan Rail can be easily highlighted.
Y All the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and other financial
institutions in India have given importance to
agriculture lending.

Y All PSBs have included Agriculture lending in their web
pages, giving due coverage of the products and services
provided by them to the farming community.
Y The agriculture loan product's details, including Crop
Loans (KCC), Jewel loans for agriculture, SHG and JLG
group lending for agriculture, Activities allied to
agriculture with special reference to dairy and poultry,
government-sponsored schemes, financing against
Warehouse receipts, Horticulture, Farm mechanization,
including Combined harvesters and tractors, Minor
irrigation with special reference to micro irrigation,
etc., are available on the corporate websites of the
banks.

44 | 2023 | NOVEMBER | BANKING FINANCE