SRINAGAR: The Centre on Monday said a range of credit schemes, including the Kisan Credit Card (KCC), Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), PM Vishwakarma and PM SVANidhi, are available across the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, to facilitate loans for farmers, small traders and self-employed people.
The information was provided by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply to a starred question in the Lok Sabha on measures for providing easy loans in Bihar.
The Government, however, does not maintain constituency-wise data under these schemes. The reply said beneficiaries from Maharajganj Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar are included in the district-wise figures for Siwan and Saran.
While the data placed before the House was specific to Bihar, the Centre said the credit schemes are operational nationwide, including JK.
For easing access to credit, the Government has introduced digital platforms such as the Jan Samarth portal, PSB Loans in 59 Minutes, Udyamimitra and the PM SVANidhi portal. Banks and financial institutions have also developed digital platforms and mobile applications for end-to-end processing of loan applications.
The Centre said five Digital Banking Units are operational in Bihar, while banks have been advised by the Reserve Bank of India to dispense with obtaining “No Dues Certificates” from individual borrowers, including self-help groups and joint liability groups, in rural and semi-urban areas, except where specifically required under a Government-sponsored scheme.
The reply said Bihar had 49,598 fixed-point Business Correspondent outlets as on June 30, 2026, providing last-mile banking and credit services.
For micro and small enterprises, scheduled commercial banks have been mandated not to accept collateral security for loans up to Rs 20 lakh. Banks have also been advised to provide collateral-free loans up to Rs 20 lakh to units financed under PMEGP.
The RBI has further advised banks to take credit decisions on loans up to Rs 25 lakh for MSE borrowers within 14 working days.
For farmers, the Centre said the collateral-free limit for short-term agricultural loans, including allied activities, was increased from Rs 1.60 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per borrower with effect from January 1, 2025.
The Government has also undertaken KCC saturation drives and district-level camps for farmers engaged in animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries. Digital initiatives such as Jan Samarth, e-KCC, KRISHIKA and the Kisan Rin Portal have been introduced to streamline agricultural credit delivery.
The Finance Minister said banks had organised credit outreach programmes in Bihar, including the Maharajganj constituency, while financial literacy and awareness programmes were being conducted through Centres for Financial Literacy and Financial Literacy Centres.
According to the reply, Bihar had 178 Centres for Financial Literacy and 76 Financial Literacy Centres as on March 31, 2026.
The Bihar data showed that banks disbursed Rs 16,501 crore through 13.24 lakh KCC accounts during 2025-26. Under PMMY, 65.27 lakh accounts received Rs 57,731 crore during the same financial year.
The figures also showed Rs 383.42 crore sanctioned under PMEGP to 3,667 accounts in Bihar during 2025-26, while PM Vishwakarma recorded 13,707 sanctioned cases involving Rs 112.87 crore during the year.
The Centre said the Unified Lending Interface (ULI), developed by the RBI, is intended to provide lenders streamlined access to verified data such as land records and credit histories, enabling quicker loan decisions and reducing operational costs.
