Lok Sabha Question No. 2734 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-05
Subject: Credit Access under PMDDKY
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Adv. Chandra Shekhar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2734

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05 th  August, 2025

## Credit Access under PMDDKY

2734. Adv. Chandra Shekhar:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

(a) the measures to ensure credit access for SC/ST/OBC farmers under PMDDKY;

(b)  the details  of PMDDKY's caste-specific impacts on SC/ST/OBC farmer's income and productivity,  why  disaggregated  evaluations  absent,  what  plans  exist  for  independent studies assessing outcomes for these communities;

(c) the manner in which recent KCC loan limit increase benefit these communities and the expected outcomes;

(d) the steps taken to monitor progress to prevent capture of the scheme by elite farmers;

(e) the manner in which PMDDKY through targeted interventions address the credit access challenges faced by SC/ST/OBC farmers;

(f) the steps taken to address concerns about inequitable benefit distribution and rising input costs;

(g)  the  details  of  caste-specific  assessment,  whereby  PMDDKY  supports  marginalized farmers;

(h) the details of specific inclusion strategies, to support marginalized farmers who form 86% of India's small farmers; and

(i)  the  details  of  mechanisms  to  prevent  fund  diversion  and  address  landlessness, discriminatory lending, and limited technology access faced by SC/ST/OBC farmers?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛ मंũी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a)  to  (i):  The  Union  Cabinet  approved  the  Prime  Minister  Dhan-Dhaanya  Krishi  Yojana (PMDDKY) on 16 th  July, 2025 to cover 100 districts. Implementation of the scheme is being done through convergence of appropriate schemes. Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana aims to enhance agricultural productivity, increase adoption of crop diversification and sustainable agricultural practices, augment post-harvest storage at the panchayat and block levels, improve irrigation facilities and facilitate availability of long-term and short-term credit.

The Government is implementing a 100% centrally funded Central Sector Scheme known as the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) across various States and UTs in  pan  India.  This  scheme  aims  to  provide  concessional  interest  rates  on  short-term agricultural loans obtained by farmers through Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) for their working capital requirements. Along with other schemes, Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS)/Kisan Credit Card (KCC) is one of the schemes converged under the PM-DDKY to ensure credit access to the farmers. Under  MISS/KCC  scheme,  farmers  (including  SC/ST/OBC/  landless  and  small  & marginal farmers) receive KCC loans at a subsidized interest rate of 7%. To facilitate this, an up front interest subvention (IS) of 1.5% is provided to financial institutions. Additionally, farmers who repay their loans promptly receive a 3% Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI), effectively reducing the interest rate to 4% per annum. the Interest Subvention (IS)/ Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) benefit under MISS is limited to Rs. 3 lakh with a limit of Rs 2 lakh for the loan taken for allied activities (viz., Animal Husbandry / Dairy/ Poulty/ Fisheries) only. MISS is a demand driven scheme and benefit is available to all farmers.

To facilitate easy access to Small and Marginal Farmers (SMF), the RBI has recently increased  collateral  free  loan  limit  in  KCC  for  existing  Rs  1.6  lakh  to  Rs  2  lakh  w.e.f., 01.01.2025.

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