TL;DR — what you need to know in 30 seconds
NABARD full form: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. Established: 12 July 1982 under NABARD Act 1981. Based on: Sivaraman Committee (CRAFICARD) recommendation. HQ: Mumbai. Chairman 2025: Shaji K.V. Functions: credit (refinance to RRBs/Coops), development (SHG-Bank Linkage, RIDF), supervisory (BR Act 1949). Paid-up capital (2025): ₹17,080 crore, fully owned by Government of India.
Establishment of NABARD
NABARD was established on 12 July 1982 by an Act of Parliament — NABARD Act 1981 — based on the recommendations of the Committee to Review Arrangements for Institutional Credit for Agriculture and Rural Development (CRAFICARD), chaired by Shri B. Sivaraman in 1981. It took over the functions of the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of the Reserve Bank of India, and the entire undertaking of the Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).
NABARD was set up with an initial capital of ₹100 crore. Following revision in the composition of share capital between Government of India and RBI, the paid up capital as of 31 March 2025 stood at ₹17,080 crore, with Government of India holding the entire share.
Structure and management
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Statutory body, apex development financial institution |
| Headquarters | Mumbai (Bandra-Kurla Complex) |
| Regional offices | 31 (one per state/UT) |
| District offices | 400+ |
| Chairman (2025) | Shri Shaji K.V. |
| Owner | Government of India (100%) |
| Reports to | Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services |
Functions of NABARD
1. Credit functions
- Refinance to Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Cooperative Banks, Land Development Banks and commercial banks for agriculture and rural lending.
- Short-term refinance (production credit) and long-term refinance (investment credit).
- Direct lending to large infrastructure projects via Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
2. Developmental functions
- SHG-Bank Linkage Programme (1992) — world's largest microfinance programme. ~136 lakh SHGs covered.
- Watershed Development Programme — water-shed-based area development.
- Tribal Development Fund — wadi (orchard) model for tribal livelihoods.
- NABARD Climate Change Fund — financing climate-resilient agriculture.
- Producer Organisations Development Fund (PODF) — promoting FPOs.
3. Supervisory functions
- Inspection of State Cooperative Banks, District Central Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks under Banking Regulation Act 1949.
- Off-site surveillance and prompt corrective action.
- Recommendations to RBI for licensing & reorganisation.
Major schemes and funds managed by NABARD
- Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF, 1995-96) — set up by RBI, managed by NABARD. Funded projects worth ₹4.83 lakh crore cumulatively across roads, bridges, irrigation, education, health infrastructure.
- Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF, 2016) — ₹40,000 crore for 99 priority irrigation projects.
- Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF, 2018) — ₹5,000 crore corpus.
- Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF, 2017) — ₹10,881 crore.
- Fisheries Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) — for blue economy.
- Warehouse Infrastructure Fund (WIF) — for agri-warehousing.
NABARD and the Indian rural credit system
NABARD sits at the apex of a three-tier rural credit structure:
- State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) at the state level (~33).
- District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) at the district level (~351).
- Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) at the village level (~95,000).
It also supervises 43 RRBs (post-consolidation), which together cover 26 states and 3 UTs with ~22,000 branches.
UPSC and Banking exam relevance
- UPSC Prelims: Establishment year (1982), founding committee (Sivaraman), HQ (Mumbai) and major funds (RIDF) appear regularly.
- Mains GS-3: NABARD's role in agricultural credit, financial inclusion (SHG-Bank Linkage) and climate finance is a recurring theme.
- Banking exams (IBPS, RBI Grade B): NABARD is a separate recruiter for Grade A and Grade B officers — Padho UPSC tracks notifications under Tools → Notifications Tracker.