India achieves 99.92% banking coverage, Finance Ministry informs Parliament
India has achieved near-universal banking coverage, with 99.92% of inhabited villages (6,00,868 out of 6,01,328) now served by a banking outlet, the Finance Ministry informed Parliament on Monday.
According to Jan Dhan Darshak (JDD) data shared by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, this expansion is supported by a robust infrastructure of over 1.81 lakh bank branches, 17.36 lakh business correspondents (BCs), and 1.65 lakh India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) centres as of July 17, 2026.
To ensure access to banking services in rural and remote areas, the government's objective is to provide a banking outlet within a 5-km radius of every inhabited village in the country.
The ministry stated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted commercial banks, small finance banks, payments banks, local area banks, and regional rural banks to open branches anywhere in India without prior approval, provided that at least 25% of the branches are opened in unbanked rural areas.
As of July 17, 2026, there were 58.77 crore Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts in the country, with total deposits of Rs 3,12,414 crore. Meanwhile, the government has taken several steps to ensure transparency and the timely disbursement of agricultural credit, including the launch of the Jan Samarth Portal as a one-stop digital platform for linking government-sponsored loan and subsidy schemes.
The portal provides a quick and efficient way to apply for loans and enables their timely sanction based on a digital evaluation of the applicant's data.
The Finance Ministry noted that the government aims to streamline the agricultural credit delivery process, and several digital initiatives have been introduced. These include the e-KYC application developed by NABARD, KRISHIKA by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and similar digital applications developed by banks to support beneficiary identification, outreach, loan application processing, and monitoring.
Additionally, the Kisan Rin Portal (KRP) was launched by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in September 2023. It enables Aadhaar-based beneficiary verification and faster digital claim settlements under the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) for loans availed through the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme.
Furthermore, the government and the RBI have been undertaking various initiatives from time to time to strengthen the cybersecurity of digital payment transactions and protect citizens from cyber financial fraud.
