Prerequisite 5 of 21

A new micro-credit policy

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5Partially built

The 2015 proposal

Supply inputs on credit and ~10% of expected output as low-interest cash credit, recovered at sale through the card; waive on adverse events; pay subsidies at the point of sale.

Where it stands in 2026

Much of the proposal is already running. The Kisan Credit Card delivers crop loans at an effective 4% after subvention and prompt-repayment incentive (on principal up to ₹3 lakh), PM-KISAN adds a flat income transfer, and electronic warehouse-receipt (eNWR) finance lets a farmer borrow against stored grain and repay at sale — the recovered-at-harvest design the deck called for. The evidence also vindicates the deck’s caution: blanket loan waivers, recurrent in Indian politics, are shown to damage repayment culture and crowd out future lending, which is why a conditional, transaction-linked line beats a one-off write-off.

The open gap

A third of who farms — the tenant, sharecropper and oral lessee — still can’t pledge land they don’t own, and so stay outside formal credit.

The path to close it

The rails — KCC, PM-KISAN and eNWR finance — work well for the farmer who holds title. The hole is structural: the tenant, sharecropper and oral lessee who work much of India’s land but cannot pledge it. Close it by scoring credit on what a farmer does rather than what they own — transaction history, warehouse receipts, satellite-verified cropping and repayment record, as Kenya’s Apollo Agriculture does to lend to smallholders no bank would otherwise score. Scale Joint Liability Groups so the landless borrow on shared accountability, and give legal standing to recorded tenancy so a lease, not just a title deed, can unlock a loan. Then bundle each agronomic advisory with a crop-plan-linked credit line recovered at sale — and hold the line against blanket waivers, which the evidence shows wreck the very credit culture this prerequisite depends on.

Specifications — what “built” requires

Illustrative — a proposed specification and sequence, not an official government roadmap.

Acceptance criteria

  • A tenant, sharecropper or oral lessee can get formal crop credit without land title.
  • Credit is scored on transaction history, warehouse receipts and satellite-verified cropping, not only collateral.
  • Every advisory carries an optional crop-plan-linked credit line recovered at sale.
  • Joint Liability Groups give the landless a group-borrowing route at scale.
  • Recorded tenancy carries legal standing sufficient to unlock a loan.
  • No reliance on blanket waivers; prompt-repayment incentives preserved.

Technical spec

Score
alt-data model: txn history, eNWR, satellite NDVI, repayment record
Identity
FarmerID + recorded-tenancy registry link
Product
crop-plan-linked line, auto-recovered at e-NAM sale / eNWR pledge
Group
JLG enrolment + shared-liability ledger
Rails
KCC subvention, PM-KISAN, eNWR pledge finance
Guardrail
no blanket waiver; prompt-repayment incentive retained

Roadmap to built — phase 1 → 2 → 3

Illustrative — a proposed specification and sequence, not an official government roadmap.

  1. 1
    Phase 1 · Now

    Make the landless scoreable

    Stand up the alt-data credit score (txn history, eNWR, NDVI) and enrol Joint Liability Groups.

    The landless can be scored and borrow as a group.

  2. 2
    Phase 2 · 6–12 months

    Legalise the lease

    Give recorded tenancy legal standing sufficient to secure a loan.

    Tenants and oral lessees enter formal credit.

  3. 3
    Phase 3 · 12–24 months

    Bundle credit with advice

    Attach a crop-plan-linked line, auto-recovered at sale, to every advisory.

    Credit, advice and insurance arrive as one package — built.

Where it sits in the chain

See the full map →

Depends on

Enables

Nothing yet — this is a capstone of the chain.

Sources