ABSTRACT
Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) and Karnataka Gramin Bank (KGB), are the two
major Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in Karnataka that play a vital role in promoting rural
credit and agricultural development. This paper is made an attempt to explore the major
objectives like to examine the growth and structure of RRBs in Karnataka and to analyse the
trends in agricultural credit disbursement by RRBs over the period and identify the
challenges and constraints faced by RRBs. This paper is based on the information collected
through available secondary sources and literature reviews. The proposed study mainly in
descriptive in nature. Both banks KVGB and KGB have maintained a strong rural orientation,
fulfilling their core role in promoting rural banking and agricultural credit with large number
of branches. Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank’s total advances rose from ₹10,933.93 crore in
2018–19 to ₹17,571.46 crore in 2024–25, reflecting a consistent upward trend in lending
operations. This shows the bank’s expanding outreach and improved credit delivery capacity
over the years. The total advances of Karnataka Garmin Bank has increased steadily from
₹21,264.77 crore in 2019–20 to ₹29,235.32 crore in 2023–24 an overall growth of about
37.5% over five years. Agricultural advances rose from ₹15,849.84 crore to ₹23,363.66 crore
a growth of around 47.4% during the same period. To enhance the effectiveness of Regional
Rural Banks (RRBs) in supporting rural development, several strategic measures are
essential. Strengthening the management of non-performing assets (NPAs), particularly in the
agriculture sector, is critical, this requires robust credit appraisal, close monitoring, and
efficient recovery mechanisms.
Key Words: Regional Rural Banks, Rural Credit Flow, Financial Inclusion, Non-Performing
Assets.