Lok Sabha Question No. 2461 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-15
Subject: Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Shri Jagdambika Pal

## Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Financial Services

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2461

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2025/AGRAHAYANA 24, 1947 (SAKA)

## Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)

## 2461. SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has reviewed the capacity of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to meet the  evolving  credit  needs  of  the  rural  economy,  including  emerging  sectors  such  as  agroprocessing, allied-agriculture and rural MSMEs and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the guidelines issued to RRBs for supporting Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) through customised financial products and improved service delivery;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to increase banking outreach in financially underserved rural regions through RRB branch expansion or digital infrastructure, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  the  steps  taken  to  improve  the  performance  of  RRBs  under  national  financial-inclusion schemes and to promote better collaboration with NABARD and State Governments?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

- (a):  Government  of  India  is  regularly  reviewing  the  performance  of  Regional  Rural  Banks (RRBs) to meet the evolving credit needs of the rural economy, including emerging sectors like agro-processing, allied-agriculture, and rural Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at national  and  regional  levels.  The  following  reviews  of  RRBs  have  been  held  under  the Chairpersonship of Finance Minister in last four financial years:

|   S.No | National/Regional level   | Date and Place          |
|--------|---------------------------|-------------------------|
|      1 | National level            | 07.07.2022 at New Delhi |
|      2 | North-Eastern RRBs        | 21.07.2023 at Agartala  |
|      3 | Southern RRBs             | 04.08.2023 at Chennai   |

|   4. | Northern RRBs           | 30.08.2023 at New Delhi   |
|------|-------------------------|---------------------------|
|    5 | National level          | 19.08.2024 at New Delhi   |
|    6 | Western-Central RRBs    | 22.08.2024 at Udaipur     |
|    7 | North-Eastern RRBs      | 30.09.2024 at Itanagar    |
|    8 | Southern RRBs           | 09.11.2024 at Bengaluru   |
|    9 | Eastern RRBs            | 29.11.2024 at Patna       |
|   10 | Karnataka Grameena Bank | 16.10.2025 at Ballari     |

Further, as a follow-up, Department of Financial Services (DFS) has conducted periodic and regular meetings with RRBs and sponsor banks at various levels.

The agenda items for the review meetings, inter-alia , include:

- (i) Review of the performance of RRBs on Financial Parameters and technology upgradation.
- (ii) Thrust on MSME portfolio.
- (iii) Importance on loan diversification towards Agri-allied, MSME and Retail Sectors.
- (b) National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) had prepared a "Guidance Note  for  financing  Farmer  Producer  Organisations  (FPOs)  by  Banks'  and  submitted  to  the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for wider dissemination across the banking sector. Pursuant to this, RBI in 2020, has advised the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to circulate the guidance note among its member banks to facilitate speedy and effective adoption of the credit  evaluation framework  outlined  therein,  in  alignment  with  their  respective  Board-approved  policies. Additionally, IBA has been requested by RBI to instruct sponsor banks to share the guidance note with RRBs.
- (c) The endeavour of the Government is to ensure availability of banking outlet (Bank branch / Business Correspondent (BC) / India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)) within 5 kilometres of all inhabited villages in the country. Availability of banking outlets is monitored by a Geographic Information System (GIS) based App., namely, Jan Dhan Darshak (JDD) App. Based on the data uploaded  by  Banks  on  the  JDD  App,  as  on  31.10.2025,  99.91%  villages  in  the  country  are covered with banking outlets (Bank Branch / BC / IPPB) within a radius of 5 Km.
- (d)  DFS  launched  a  Gram  Panchayat  (GP)  level  Saturation  Campaign  from  01.07.2025  to 31.10.2025 with the objective of achieving comprehensive financial inclusion, with participation from  Public  Sector  Banks  (PSBs),  RRBs,  Private  Banks,  Small  Finance  Banks  (SFBs)  and Cooperative Banks.

Further, following steps have been taken to improve the performance of RRBs under national financial-inclusion schemes: (i)  Onboarding  of  RRBs on JanSuraksha scheme portal has enabled them to enrol and settle claims with respect to Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) for the benefit of their customers. (ii)  Financial  support  by  NABARD  to  RRBs  for  conducting  Financial  and  Digital  Literacy Programmes.  These  programmes  entail  generating  awareness  on  banking  products,  social security schemes of Government of India, digital banking and cyber security for the banking customers. (iii)  Since  1992,  NABARD has  supported Non -Governmental  Organizations (NGOs), RRBs, Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) etc to promote, nurture  and  credit-linkage  of  Self-Help  Groups  (SHGs).  NABARD  has  also  helped  in  faster settlement  of  SHG  interest  subvention  claims  under  Deendayal  Antyodaya  Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) through their Interest subvention portal. Further, it also provides grant support for Joint Liability Group (JLG) formation and capacity building. (iv) NABARD has developed eKisanCredit (eKCC) portal for RRBs to streamline agricultural loan process which will help in reducing the turnaround time for credit disbursement. Incentive Scheme of NABARD for Customer Service Points (CSPs) / BCs of RRBs operating

(v) in Northeast and Hilly States / Union Territories (UTs). The BCs are paid monthly remuneration to offset the expenses incurred by them towards operating in difficult terrain.

(vi) Financial support by NABARD to RRBs for deployment of banking touchpoints such as Micro Automated Teller Machines (Micro-ATM), Point of Sale (POS) / Mobile Point of Sale (MPOS) devices, and Demonstration Vans.

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