State of agricultural finance in India: a case study of Haryana
Student name: Mr Prince Bhandari
Guide: Dr Subir Sen
Year of completion: 2012
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: Over the last decade, the share of agricultural sector towards GDP has witnessed a decline.
There exist large regional variations in terms of agricultural productivity and agricultural
credit. Government of India in its 12th FYP (2012-17), has aimed to achieve 4 per cent rate of
growth in the agriculture sector with the main focus on the inclusive growth. Inclusive growth
can be achieved only if there is adequate provision of agricultural finance to the weaker
section of the society at a reduced cost. The aim of the paper is to show whether the growth is
inclusive or not in providing agricultural finance, taking a case study of selected districts in
Haryana. According to the Financial Inclusion Index, all the districts in Haryana were found
to be at medium or above the inclusion, implying that Haryana is moving toward financial
inclusion. The second analysis was to show discrimination in provision of agricultural
finance on the basis of identified varying characteristics. It was found that there exists
discrimination in the provision of agricultural finance giving preference to particular
segment of population, and in case of size of landholding, larger the land, implying higher the
chances of getting loan.
Keywords: Inclusive Finance, Agricultural Credit, Discrimination
