The Indian government has announced plans to allocate approximately Rs 20,000 crore for Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loans. These initiatives are part of the government’s efforts to provide more focused and efficient agriculture credit and support farmers in making well-informed choices. The Centre will be re-launching KCC initiatives to provide loans up to Rs 3 lakh. Additionally, the government has launched the Kisan Rin Portal, which will help farmers avail subsidised loans under the KCC. The Centre has also initiated a door-to-door KCC campaign and introduced a manual for the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) portal.

The Kisan Rin Portal aims to offer a comprehensive view of farmer data, loan disbursement specifics, interest subvention claims, and scheme utilisation progress. This integration with banks will facilitate more focused and efficient agriculture credit. As of March 30, there are approximately 7.35 crore KCC accounts with a total sanctioned limit of Rs 8.85 lakh crore.

During the launch of the Kisan Rin Portal and the Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyan, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the government will spend around Rs 20,000 crore on KCC loans. He also mentioned that nearly Rs 1.41 lakh crore has been disbursed under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana against a premium of Rs 29,000 crore. The event was attended by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Sushri Shobha Karandlaje and Shri Kailash Chaudhary.

The Kisan Rin Portal and the door-to-door KCC campaign aim to extend the benefits of KCC to non-holders and beneficiaries of the central scheme PM-KISAN, which provides Rs 6,000 per annum to each identified farmer’s bank account. The manual for the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) portal will cater to the parametric crop insurance scheme of the agriculture ministry.

The initiatives by the Indian government are expected to strengthen the agriculture sector by providing farmers with better access to credit and information, enabling them to make well-informed choices. These measures will contribute to the overall development of the agriculture industry and improve the livelihoods of farmers in the country.