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Abstract
Rural indebtedness and dependence on private moneylenders is an age-old problem in India. For more than 100 years now, the Central Government and the Reserve Bank of India have been making efforts to enhance institutional credit in rural areas particularly to assist in agricultural operations. A particular focus of the paper is analysis of the cost and benefits of subsidies for agricultural credit and generalized debt waivers. It finds that the steps taken to enhance institutional credit such as the opening of a large number of rural branches of commercial banks, priority sector lending with 18 per cent target for agriculture, Kisan Credit Cards and the financial inclusion initiative have really been instrumental in the impressive rise in agricultural credit and not credit subsidies.