Lead Bank Scheme Guidelines

RBI/2026-27/150 FIDD.CO.LBS.BC.No.03/02.01.001/2026-27 June 19, 2026

The Chairman/Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer All Commercial Banks excluding Foreign Banks (other than Wholly Owned Subsidiaries of Foreign Banks) All State Co-operative Banks All District Central Co-operative Banks

Madam / Dear Sir,

Lead Bank Scheme

Please refer to our Master Circular on the Lead Bank Scheme (LBS) FIDD.CO.LBS.BC.No.03/02.01.001/2025-26 dated April 01, 2025, consolidating the relevant guidelines / instructions issued by Reserve Bank of India on LBS from time to time.

2. A comprehensive review of the LBS has been undertaken and the revised guidelines on the subject are enclosed. These supersede all earlier instructions issued by the Reserve Bank on the subject.

Yours faithfully,

(Nisha Nambiar) Chief General Manager-in-Charge

Encl.: As above

Structure

1 Background 2 Objective of Lead Bank Scheme 3 Framework of the Scheme 3.1 Lead Bank 3.2 Lead District Manager (LDM) 3.3 District Development Manager (DDM) 3.4 Lead District Officer (LDO) 3.5 SLBC Convenor Bank 3.6 SLBC Convenor 4 Fora under the Lead Bank Scheme 5 Block Level Bankers’ Committee (BLBC) 5.1 Purpose 5.2 Composition of BLBC 5.3 Conduct of BLBC meetings 6 District Consultative Committee (DCC) 6.1 Purpose 6.2 Composition of DCC 6.3 Conduct of DCC Meetings 7 District Level Review Committee (DLRC) 7.1 Purpose 7.2 Composition of DLRC 7.3 Conduct of DLRC Meetings 8 Role of LDMs and Infrastructure Support 8.1 Role of LDMs 8.2 Infrastructure and resources for LDMs 9 State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) 9.1 Purpose 9.2 Composition of SLBC 9.3 Conduct of SLBC Meetings 9.4 Sub-Committees of SLBC 9.4.1 Steering Sub-Committee 9.4.2 Other Sub-Committees 9.4.3 Composition of Sub-Committees 9.4.4 Conduct of Sub-Committee meetings 9.5 Liaison with State Government 9.6 SLBC Office - Infrastructure and Resources 10 Credit Planning 10.1 Preparation of credit plans 10.2 Reviewing the Performance against Credit Plans 11 Credit Deposit Ratio (CD Ratio) 11.1 Monitoring CD Ratio 11.2 Bank level monitoring 11.3 District and State level monitoring 12 Other guidelines on lending 13 Banking Penetration 14 Expanding and Deepening of Digital Payments Ecosystem (EDDPE) 15 Capacity building and Sensitisation Programmes 16 SLBC Website - Standardisation of Information

Background

The Lead Bank Scheme (LBS) was introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December 1969 to provide a structured mechanism for facilitating co-ordination among various stakeholders towards enabling flow of bank finance to the priority sector and other sectors and for promoting banks' role in the overall development of the rural sector.

2. Objective of Lead Bank Scheme

LBS aims at coordinating the activities of banks, government and other developmental agencies through fora established under the Scheme to achieve the following:

a) enhancing flow of credit to priority sectors for achieving inclusive growth. b) deepening financial inclusion through improved access and usage of financial services.

3. Framework of the Scheme

3.1 Lead Bank:

i) RBI shall designate a commercial bank as Lead Bank in each district, to coordinate the efforts of the banks, Government, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and other stakeholders at the district level to improve credit flow to the priority sectors and promote financial inclusion in the district. ii) The list of district-wise Lead Banks is given in Annex-1.

3.2 Lead District Manager (LDM):

Every Lead Bank shall appoint a Lead District Manager (LDM) in each district where it has lead bank responsibility, to exclusively oversee and coordinate the implementation of LBS in the district.

3.3 District Development Manager (DDM):

NABARD shall appoint a District Development Manager (DDM) for each district to act as a liaison between NABARD and the district-level banking and financial institutions in promoting rural credit, implementing financial inclusion initiatives, and supporting agricultural and rural development activities in the district.

3.4 Lead District Officer (LDO):

RBI shall designate one of its officers as Lead District Officer (LDO) for each district. The LDO shall represent the Bank at the district level under the LBS.

3.5 SLBC Convenor Bank:

i) RBI shall designate one commercial bank with significant presence in the State / Union Territory (UT) as the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) Convenor Bank / UT Level Bankers’ Committee (UTLBC) Convenor Bank. ii) List of State and UT-wise SLBC / UTLBC Convenor Banks is given in Annex-1.

3.6 SLBC Convenor:

SLBC Convenor bank in each State / UT shall designate a General Manager of the bank as the SLBC Convenor. In case no General Manager level official is available, the Zonal Head of the Convenor bank (not below rank of DGM) may be designated as Convenor.

4. Fora under the Lead Bank Scheme

The scheme shall function through a three-tier structure in each State / UT, with Block Level Bankers’ Committee (BLBC) at the base level, District Consultative Committee (DCC) and District Level Review Committee (DLRC) at the intermediate level, and SLBC / UTLBC at the apex level. Each of these fora shall broadly comprise of banks, government agencies and other stakeholders.

5 Block Level Bankers’ Committee (BLBC)

5.1 Purpose

BLBC shall be constituted in each block of a district for achieving coordination at the block level among banks, government and field level development agencies. BLBC shall prepare and review the implementation of the Block Credit Plan and resolve operational issues in the implementation of credit programmes at the block level.

5.2 Composition of BLBC

i) The Lead District Manager (LDM) of the district shall convene and chair the BLBC. The membership of the BLBC shall comprise of (a) branch managers of all banks operating in the block including Small Finance Banks (SFBs), Payments Banks (PBs), Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) of Foreign Banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs); (b) Block Development Officer (BDO), and, (c) technical officers in the block, such as, extension officers for agriculture, industries and co-operatives. Controlling Offices should intimate details of branches opened/ closed/ merged in the district to the LDM to enable appropriate coverage in the BLBC meetings. ii) Representatives of Panchayat Samitis shall be invited to attend the meetings at half yearly intervals to provide inputs for the credit planning exercise. iii) The LDO and Controlling Heads of banks may attend BLBC meetings selectively. iv) DDMs shall be invited to BLBC meetings. While they may attend the meetings selectively, they shall participate in meetings in which the Block Credit Plan is finalised. v) Representatives of block level SHG federation, Financial Literacy Counsellors attached to Financial Literacy Centres (FLC) and Directors of RSETIs may also be invited to BLBC meetings.

5.3 Conduct of BLBC meetings

i) BLBC meetings shall be held on quarterly basis, as far as possible. In the North-Eastern region, considering geographical and other constraints, the meetings may be held at least twice per year, one for the half year ended September for finalising the Block Credit Plan, and the other for the half year ended March where the performance may be reviewed. ii) The illustrative agenda for BLBC meetings is provided in Annex-2. iii) BLBC meetings shall be conducted within 60 days of the end of the quarter. In cases where physical participation is rendered difficult by factors such as distance constraints, natural calamities, operational constraints faced by single person branches, etc. the meetings may be conducted virtually, or virtual participation may be permitted. In exceptional cases where a meeting is not held within the timeframe prescribed, it should invariably be held before the end of the next quarter. iv) The minutes of the meeting (as per format in Annex-10) should be circulated within 10 days of holding the meeting. LDM shall establish a robust monitoring system to ensure that discussions during meetings result in actionable outcomes, decisions taken in the meeting have definite time frame for implementation and the progress of such action items is tracked. v) The conduct of BLBC meetings will be monitored by the DCC. BLBC may refer the issues that remain unresolved at the block level to the DCC for discussion on a wider platform.