National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)

Genesis

The importance of institutional credit in boosting rural economy has been clear to the Government of India right from its early stages of planning. Therefore, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at the insistence of the Government of India, constituted a Committee to Review the Arrangements For Institutional Credit for Agriculture and Rural Development (CRAFICARD) to look into these very critical aspects. The Committee was formed on 30 March 1979, under the Chairmanship of Shri B. Sivaraman, former member of Planning Commission, Government of India.
The Committee’s interim report, submitted on 28 November 1979, outlined the need for a new organisational device for providing undivided attention, forceful direction and pointed focus to credit related issues linked with rural development. Its recommendation was formation of a unique development financial institution which would address these aspirations and formation of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was approved by the Parliament through Act 61 of 1981.
NABARD came into existence on 12 July 1982 by transferring the agricultural credit functions of RBI and refinance functions of the then Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC). It was dedicated to the service of the nation by the late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi on 05 November 1982. Set up with an initial capital of Rs.100 crore, its’ paid up capital stood at Rs.14,080 crore as on 31 March 2020. Consequent to the revision in the composition of share capital between Government of India and RBI, NABARD today is fully owned by Government of India.

Vision

Development Bank of the Nation for Fostering Rural Prosperity.

Mission

Promote sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development through participative financial and non-financial interventions, innovations, technology and institutional development for securing prosperity.

What we do

NABARD initiatives are aimed at building an empowered and financially inclusive rural India through specific goal oriented departments which can be categorized broadly into three heads: Financial, Developmental and Supervision. Through these initiatives we touch almost every aspect of rural economy. From providing refinance support to building rural infrastructure; from preparing district level credit plans to guiding and motivating the banking industry in achieving these targets; from supervising Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to helping them develop sound banking practices and onboarding them to the CBS platform; from designing new development schemes to the implementation of GoI’s development schemes; from training handicraft artisans to providing them a marketing platform for selling these articles.
Over the years our initiatives have touched millions of rural lives across the country. Our milestone achievements have been India’s achievements as well. The SHG Bank Linkage Project launched by NABARD in 1992 has blossomed into the world’s largest micro finance project. Kisan Credit Card, designed by us has become source of comfort for crores of farmers. We have financed one fifth of India’s total rural infrastructure. We were pioneers in the field of watershed development as a tool for sustainable climate proofing. It’s a long list indeed and we welcome you to understand us better.

For further details, the website of the organization may be visited at https://www.nabard.org/