Overview
- The Reserve Bank of India released draft directions to consolidate and update Kisan Credit Card guidelines and opened them for comments through March 6, 2026.
- Short-duration crops are proposed to follow a 12-month cycle, with long-duration crops set at 18 months to standardize sanction and repayment timelines.
- The draft extends KCC loan tenure to a maximum of six years to better match longer cultivation periods and income flows.
- Drawing limits would be linked to the official scale of finance for each crop season so credit reflects actual cultivation costs.
- Eligible uses expand to include soil testing, real-time weather services and organic or good agricultural practice certification within the existing 20% add-on for maintenance, with the framework applying to commercial, small finance, regional rural and rural co-operative banks.