Agri credit seen rising 9% in FY26 to ₹31.5 lakh cr

CREDIT TO THE agriculture sector by commercial banks and regional rural banks is likely to cross ₹31.5 lakh crore, a new record, in FY26 due to an increased formalisation of the rural credit structure, a senior official with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) said.

- SANDIP DAS

In FY25, Nabard had disbursed over ₹28.98 lakh crore through commercial banks, cooperatives and regional rural banks, out of which around 60% was towards short-term crop loans and the rest was towards investment loans in agriculture and allied sectors.

"We expect total agri-credit flow in the current fiscal to be around ₹31.5 lakh crore," Ajay K Sood, deputy managing director, Nabard, told FE.

He said despite a sharp spike in credit flow to the agricultural and allied sector, Nabard is trying to address the regional imbalance in the credit flow through preparing potential linked credit plans.