Performance of Kisan Credit Card Scheme
	17:2 IST

About 4.80 crore Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) have been issued till 31st January, 2005. The scope of the scheme has been recently enlarged to cover the term loans for agriculture and allied activities including a reasonable component to meet consumption needs besides the existing facility of providing crop loan limit. No ceiling has been envisaged for sanction of credit limit under the scheme. However, the banks may fix the credit limit to farmers on the basis of their land holding, cropping pattern and scale of finance recommended by the District Level Technical Committee. The Co-operative Banks also take into account the individual maximum borrowing power fixed by the Registrar of the Co-operative Societies while fixing the credit limit under the scheme which may vary from State to State. As the interest rate regime has been deregulated by the Reserve Bank of India, banks have been provided freedom to fix the rate of interest on credit limit sanctioned. Hence, no uniform rate of interest is applicable to KCC in respect of Co-operative Banks and regional Rural Banks. However, Commercial banks cannot charge interest rate exceeding their Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) for the loans up to Rs. 2.00 lakh. Kisan Credit Card Scheme has emerged as a widely accepted mechanism for delivery of hassle-free crop loan to farmers. The scheme, introduced in August 1998 as an innovative credit delivery mechanism, has been progressing satisfactorily. The scheme is applicable all over the country. This information was given by Shri S.S. Palanimanickam, Minister of State for Finance in reply to a question raised by Shrimati Jaya Bachchan in Rajya Sabha today. BSC/DN-166/05