Axis Bank to tie up with ITC to offer rural lending products to farmers

• The collaboration will help Axis Bank bank to leverage ITCMAARS, an agri-tech application to address the agricultural requirements of farmers.
  
• It will allow Axis Bank to offer a wide range of products and services through its semi-urban branches.
  
• Products that will be offered would include farmer loans and gold loans, among others.

Axis Bank has tied up with ITC Limited to offer the bank’s lending products and services to farmers who are part of ITC’s agricultural ecosystem. Through this partnership, Axis Bank aims to cater to financial requirements of unserved and underserved farmers in remote regions of the country. Products that will be offered would include farmer loans and gold loans, among others.

The collaboration will allow Axis Bank to leverage ITCMAARS (Meta Market for Advanced Agricultural Rural Services), which is a full-stack agri-tech application, to reach out to the farmers and address their agricultural requirements. Additionally, it will also allow Axis Bank to offer a wide range of products and services through its semi-urban branches located across 656 Indian districts.

Says Munish Sharda, group executive and head, Bharat Banking, Axis Bank, ‘This partnership is in alignment with our Bank’s Bharat Banking mission of extending our reach in the remote regions and providing them with seamless customer experience. With the help of ITCMAARS strong and enduring relationship with over millions of farmers, we believe that we can make a significant contribution in uplifting financial situation of the community.”

Says Rajnikant Rai, divisional chief executive, agri business division, ITC Ltd, “ITC has over the years spearheaded multi-dimensional interventions to transform the lives of farmers, powered by the ITC e-Choupal eco-system that connects with over 4 million farmers. We have now implemented ITCMAARS, a phygital ecosystem that provides a range of solutions through hyperlocal and personalised advisory, agri-inputs, financial services and market linkages. We are happy to partner with Axis Bank to extend banking solutions to the farmers we have engaged with over the years.”

ITCMAARS was launched in July 2022 to provide agricultural and allied services to farmers on a digital platform. The app was launched in seven states with over 40,000 farmers grouped in 200-plus farmer produce organisations (FPOs) under four value chains- wheat, paddy, soya and chilli. Going ahead, the group wants to take it to 4,000 FPOs and 10 million farmers.

Through this initiative, Axis Bank aims to further scale up its Bharat Banking strategy by increasing the new-to-bank accounts in FY23. As on December 31st, 2022, its rural advances grew by 27% year-on-year (YoY), disbursements increased by 12% YoY and deposits grew by 16% YoY.

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