The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on October 8, 2026, issued revised operational guidelines for providing Short-Term (ST) refinance to State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) for financing Seasonal Agricultural Operations (SAO) and Additional Seasonal Agricultural Operations (ASAO). The revised guidelines merge the earlier ST-SAO and ASAO guidelines, streamline operational procedures and introduce standard formats for sanction and drawal applications.
The revised framework introduces a prepayment penalty clause during the lock-in period and allows banks to choose quarterly or half-yearly interest payment rests at the time of drawal under the floating-rate ASAO facility. Following changes communicated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the STCRC Fund interest rate structure, the refinance interest rate will be determined under the RBI-prescribed framework applicable to cooperative banks providing crop loans of up to ₹3 lakh per borrower at an interest rate of 7% per annum or less. The concerned StCB must submit an undertaking in the prescribed format. ASAO refinance is available at both fixed and floating rates, depending on market conditions.
The ST-SAO refinance allocation for StCBs for FY 2026–27 will be communicated separately by the concerned NABARD Regional Offices. Eligible banks may apply for consolidated credit limits and drawals using the prescribed formats in the operational guidelines and must acknowledge receipt of the circular to their respective NABARD Regional Office.
[Circular No. 217/DoR-59/2026]
