According to a survey performed by the National Statistical Office (NSO), over 50% of agricultural households in the country were in debt in 2019, with the average outstanding loan per home being Rs 74,121.
According to the report, institutional sources such as banks, cooperative societies, and government agencies accounted for only 69.6% of outstanding loans, while 20.5 per cent of loans were from professional money lenders.
Only 57.5 percent of the total loan was used for agricultural activities, according to the report.
“Percentage of indebted agricultural households:50.2 per cent; and average amount of outstanding loan per agricultural household: Rs. 74,121,” the report stated.
During the months of January to December 2019, the NSO conducted a survey on household land and livestock holdings, as well as a situation assessment of agricultural households in rural areas of the country.
According to the report, the average monthly income per agricultural household in the 2018-19 agricultural year was Rs 10,218. Wages contributed Rs 4,063, crop production Rs 3,798, animal husbandry Rs 1,582, non-farm business Rs 641, and land leasing Rs 134 to the typical household income.
According to the survey, there are 9.3 crore agricultural households in the country, with OBCs accounting for 45.8%, SC 15.9%, ST 14.2%, and others accounting for 24.1 percent.
According to the report, there are 7.93 crore non-agricultural families in rural areas. It also indicated that 83.5 percent of rural households owned less than 1 hectare of land, with only 0.2 percent owning more than 10 hectare.
Meanwhile, the NSO reported that rural India had a 35 percent indebtedness rate (40.3 percent cultivator households, 28.2 percent non-cultivator households), compared to 22.4 percent in urban India (27.5 per cent self-employed households, 20.6 per cent other households) as of June 30, 2018.
As part of the 77th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), NSO conducted the All India Debt & Investment Survey from January to December 2019.
The survey had previously been conducted in the NSS 26th round (1971-72), 37th round (1981-82), 48th round (1992), 59th round (2003), and 70th round (2003). (2013).
In rural India, 17.8% of households were in debt to institutional credit agencies (21.2 percent cultivator households, 13.5 percent non-cultivator households), compared to 14.5 percent in urban India, according to the survey (18 per cent self-employed households, 13.3 per cent other households).
In rural India, 10.2% of households were in debt to non-institutional credit agencies, compared to 4.9 percent in urban India, according to the report.
In rural India, almost 7% of households were indebted to both institutional and non-institutional credit agencies, compared to 3% of households in urban India.
It further stated that as of June 30, 2018, the average amount of debt held by rural households was Rs 59,748 (Rs 74,460 for cultivator households, Rs 40,432 for non-cultivator households).
In urban households, the average debt was Rs 1, 20,336.
Institutional credit agencies accounted for 66% of outstanding cash debt in rural India, compared to 34% for non-institutional credit agencies.
Institutional credit agencies accounted for 87 percent of outstanding cash debt in urban India, compared to 13 percent for non-institutional credit agencies.
Indebted households in rural India have an average debt of Rs 1, 70,533 as of June 30, 2018 (Rs 1, 84,903 for cultivator households, Rs 1, 43,557 for non-cultivator households).
It said that the average amount of debt among indebted households in urban India was Rs 5, 36,861.
