Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Saturday announced Grameen Credit Score, a framework to be developed by the public sector banks for the credit needs of the members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and people in rural areas. “Public Sector Banks will develop a ‘Grameen Credit Score’ framework to serve the credit needs of SHG members and people in rural areas,” she said in her speech. The announcement is significant in view of property cards being distributed under the Centre’s SVAMITVA Scheme, which are expected to spur credit demand in rural areas. On January 18, Prime Minister Modi had said that these cards, once issued in all the villages of the country, will unlock economic activity worth over `100 lakh crore. “There are more than 6 lakh villages in our country. Nearly half of these villages have been surveyed by drones. After getting legal documents, lakhs of people have taken loans from banks on the basis of their houses and property…,” Modi said. Commenting on the announcements made in Union Budget 2025-26, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Rural credit score has also been announced in the budget. If the credit score of women associated with self-help groups is declared, they will be able to easily get more loans from banks.” Sitharaman also announced that India Post will also be transformed as a large public logistics organisation. “India Post with 1.5 lakh rural post offices, complemented by the India Post Payment Bank and a vast network of 2.4 lakh Dak Sevaks, will be repositioned to act as a catalyst for the rural economy… India Post will also be transformed as a large public logistics organization. This will meet the rising needs of Viswakarmas, new entrepreneurs, women, self-help groups, MSMEs, and large business organizations,” she said. Announcing support for the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), Sitharaman said, “Our Government will provide support to NCDC for its lending operations for the cooperative sector.” She allocated Rs 500 crore as Grant-in-aid to National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for strengthening of Cooperative Sugar Mills. Under this scheme, the Centre is giving a grant of Rs 1,000 crore to NCDC in 2 instalments of `500 crore each to NCDC for providing loans up to `10,000 crore to cooperative sugar mills.
