Nabkisan Finance Limited

Nabkisan Finance is a subsidiary of NABARD, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, with additional equity held by the Government of Tamil Nadu and a group of banks including Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Canara Bank, ICICI Bank and Federal Bank. It is notified as an NBFC by the RBI and exists to provide credit for the promotion, expansion and commercialisation of enterprises in agriculture, allied activities and the rural non-farm sector. It has emerged as the largest lender in the Farmer Producer Organisation ecosystem, having sanctioned more than 1,800 FPO loans, and operates across 21 states and two union territories.

This is the most specialised institution on the entire CGSS panel and the one where fit matters most. If your startup works with FPOs, rural enterprise or the agriculture supply chain, Nabkisan's development mandate and public ownership can make it more patient than a commercial lender. If it does not, no amount of DPIIT recognition will make you its borrower. Establish sector fit in the first conversation.

Its role in the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups. Nabkisan Finance Limited is one of 40 institutions registered with the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company as a CGSS Member Institution (NCGTC MLI ID 341, classified as a RBI-registered NBFC). Member Institutions are the lenders that actually extend credit under the scheme: you borrow from Nabkisan Finance Limited, and NCGTC guarantees it against your default. That guarantee is what allows credit to be extended to a DPIIT-recognised startup without collateral, with cover of up to Rs 20 crore per borrower, being 85 percent of the amount in default on loans up to Rs 10 crore and 75 percent above that.

The terms are the lender's, not the scheme's. CGSS fixes the guarantee, not the loan. The interest rate, tenure, moratorium, repayment schedule and how the Annual Guarantee Fee is passed on to you are all set by Nabkisan Finance Limited under its own credit policy, and they differ materially between Member Institutions for an identical borrower. Registration does not oblige Nabkisan Finance Limited to lend: it appraises you on its normal credit standards first and applies the guarantee second. Approaching more than one Member Institution is almost always worth the effort.