SBI Celebrates Pan-India Annadata Utsav, Engages Farmers Across 15,000 Branches

Mumbai : State Bank of India, the nation’s largest bank, organised Annadata Utsav, a 15-day nationwide outreach programme dedicated to celebrating and honouring India’s farming community for its critical contribution to the country’s food security and economy. Conducted across the country, the initiative reflected SBI’s continued commitment to strengthening the agricultural ecosystem through direct engagement, financial empowerment and long-term partnership with farmers.

As part of Annadata Utsav, the Bank organised Gram Choupals across nearly 15,000 rural and semi-urban branches, creating a platform for direct banker–farmer interaction. During these engagements, SBI felicitated outstanding Annadatas who have demonstrated excellence in farming, allied activities and agri & rural entrepreneurship. Senior executives of SBI across Circles, including officials from the Agri Business Unit (ABU) and Government Sponsored Schemes (GSS) verticals, actively participated in the programme, reinforcing the Bank’s vision of being a trusted financial partner across the agri value chain.

The initiative also enabled the Bank to conduct awareness sessions on key Government of India initiatives, including the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, PMFME, PM-KUSUM, FPO financing and e-NWR based pledge finance, along with SBI’s flagship agri offerings such as Agri & Food Enterprise Loan (AFEL) and Kisan Samriddhi Rin. These sessions highlighted SBI’s comprehensive support across the agri value chain covering crop production, post-harvest infrastructure, storage, processing, renewable energy and market linkages.

In addition, knowledge sessions critical to the financial well-being of the farming community, including credit discipline, timely repayment, cyber fraud prevention and depositor awareness under RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) were conducted in collaboration with CIBIL and CRIF, equipping farmers and agri-entrepreneurs with essential financial awareness.

The programme witnessed active participation of over 1.24 lakh stakeholders, including small, marginal and progressive farmers, agri-entrepreneurs, food processors, agri start-ups, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and other participants from the agri ecosystem. The celebrations concluded with nationwide talk shows by senior SBI executives on national and regional television and radio channels, marking the occasion with a tribute to India’s farmers and reiterating the Bank’s unwavering support for the sector.

By celebrating farmers and enabling their journey from Producers to Processors, SBI continues to play a pivotal role in building a resilient, inclusive and prosperous agricultural economy.