Economic Survey 2024-2025
- From 2014-15 to 2023-24, loans at the ground level increased from โน 8.45 lakh crore to โน 25.48 lakh crore
- Share of small and marginal farmers in loans at the ground level increased from 41 percent to 57 percent
- 26 percent increase in the number of farmers enrolled under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in FY 24
New Delhi, January 31: The Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2024-25 in Parliament on Friday. In this, the Union Minister said that as of March 2024, there were 7.75 crore active Kisan Credit Card (KCC) accounts in the country, on which loans of Rs 9.81 lakh crore are outstanding. As on 31st March 2024, 1.24 lakh KCCs and 44.40 lakh KCCs were issued for fisheries and animal husbandry activities respectively.
Modified Interest Subvention Scheme:
From FY25, claim processing under the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) has been digitised through the Kisan Loan Portal (KRP) to capture and settle MISS claims faster and more efficiently. As on 31st December 2024, over โน1 lakh crore claims have been processed. About 5.9 crore farmers currently benefiting under the MISS-KCC scheme have been mapped through KRP. To provide further support to small and marginal farmers, banks should allocate 40 per cent of their Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or loan amount equivalent to Off-Balance Sheet Exposure (CEOBE), whichever is higher, to priority sectors including agriculture. All the above measures have reduced the reliance on non-institutional credit sources from over 90 per cent in 1950 to about 25.0 per cent in FY22.
Grassroots Credit for Agriculture:
Grassroots credit for agriculture (GLC) has also shown impressive growth with a CAGR of 12.98 per cent from 2014-15 to 2024-25. GLC has increased from โน8.45 lakh crore in 2014-15 to โน25.48 lakh crore in 2023-24. In this, the share of small and marginal farmers has increased from โน3.46 lakh crore (41 per cent) to โน14.39 lakh crore (57 per cent) from 2014-15 to 2023-24.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana:
The participation of state governments and insurance companies has increased from 20 and 11 in FY 2020-21 to 24 and 15 respectively in FY 2025. Additionally, these interventions have contributed to a 32 per cent reduction in premium rates compared to previous years. As a result, the number of enrolled farmers reached 4 crore in the period FY 24, a growth of 26 per cent from 3.17 crore in the period FY 23. The area insured also increased to 600 lakh hectares in FY 24, showing a growth of 19 per cent from 500 lakh hectares in FY 23.
PM-KISAN and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana:
Government initiatives like PM-KISAN, which provides direct income support to farmers and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PMKMY), which provides pension schemes for farmers, have successfully contributed to increasing the income of farmers and enhancing their social security protection. Over 11 crore farmers have benefited under PM-KISAN and 23.61 lakh farmers have been enrolled under PMKMY as on 31 October 2024. Apart from these efforts, reforms such as credit guarantee schemes for e-KYC compliance and e-NWR financing under the ONORC initiative address the systemic inefficiencies that have historically prevailed in the agriculture sector.
Enabling food management and food security:
The Economic Survey said the government has long dealt with household food security through the Public Distribution System (PDS) and Targeted PDS (TPDS), the National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013 and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which marked a fundamental shift in the approach to food security.
The NFSA Act legally entitles up to 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population to receive food grains free of cost under the Targeted Public Distribution System, which is equivalent to 81.35 crore people as per the 2011 census. Therefore, about two-thirds of the population is covered under the Act to receive highly subsidised food grains. The allocation of free food grains under PMGKAY is in addition to the regular allocation.
