The Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) are government owned scheduled commercial banks of India that operate at the regional level in different states of India. These banks are under the ownership of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Sponsored Bank and concerned State Government in the ratio of 50:35:15 respectively. They were created to serve rural areas with basic banking and financial services. However, RRBs also have urban branches.
The Government of India enacted the Regional Rural Banks Act in 1976, which led to the establishment of the first five RRBs on 2 October 1975. The first RRB was Prathama Bank, which was sponsored by Syndicate Bank and had its headquarters in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.
The area of operation is limited to the area notified by the government of India covering, and it covers one or more districts in the State. RRBs perform various functions such as providing banking facilities to rural and semi-urban areas, carrying out government operations like disbursement of wages of MGNREGA workers and distribution of pensions, providing para-banking facilities like locker facilities, debit and credit cards, mobile banking, internet banking, and UPI services. There are currently 28 Regional Rural Banks across India; the 'One State-One RRB' strategy, which aims to rationalize costs and streamline operations by consolidating 43 RRBs into 28 banks, it was put into action by the finance ministry from May 1, 2025.
History Regional rural banks were established under the provisions of an ordinance passed on 26 September 1975 and the RRB Act 1976 to provide sufficient banking and credit facility for agriculture and other rural sectors. As a result, five RRBs were set up on 2 October 1975 on the recommendations of the Narsimhan Committee on Rural Credit, during the tenure of Indira Gandhi's government. The purpose was to include rural areas into the economic mainstream since around 70% of the Indian population was rural.
Prathama Bank, with head office in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh was the first RRB. It was sponsored by Syndicate Bank and had an authorized capital of Rs. 5 crore. The other four RRBs were Gaur Gramin Bank (sponsored by UCO Bank), Gorakhpur Kshetriya Gramin Bank (sponsored by State Bank of India), Haryana Kshetriya Gramin Bank (sponsored by Punjab National Bank), and Jaipur-Nagaur Anchalik Gramin Bank (sponsored by UCO Bank).
The RRBs were owned by the central government, state government, and the sponsoring bank with 50%, 15%, and 35% shareholding respectively.RRBs
Recapitalization A review of the RRBs in August 2009 by the Union Finance Minister revealed that a large number of RRBs had a low Capital to Risk weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR). A committee was constituted in September 2009 under the chairmanship of K C Chakrabarty, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to analyse the financials of the RRBs and suggest measures, including re-capitalisation to bring the CRAR of RRBs to at least 9% in a sustainable manner by 2012. The committee submitted its report in May 2010.Recapitalization of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to improve their Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR)
The committee recommended RRBs to have a CRAR of at least 7% on 31 March 2011 and at least 9% from 31 March 2012 onwards. The recapitalization requirement of Rs 2,200.00 crore for 40 of the 82 RRBs were to be released in two installments in 2010–11 and 2011–12. The remaining 42 RRBs will not require any capital and will be able to maintain CRAR of at least 9% as of 31 March 2012 and thereafter, on their own. A fund of ₹100 crore to be set up for training and capacity building of the RRB staff.
The Government of India approved the recapitalization of the RRBs to improve their CRAR in the following manner: Share of central government, that is, ₹1,100 crore will be released as per provisions made by the Department of Expenditure in 2010-11 and 2011–12. However, release of the funds will be contingent on proportionate release of the state government and sponsor bank share. A capacity building fund with a corpus of ₹100 crore to be set up by central government with NABARD for training and capacity building of the RRB staff in the institution of NABARD and other reputed institutions. The functioning of the fund will be periodically reviewed by the central government. An action plan will be prepared by NABARD and sent to the government for approval. An additional amount of ₹700 crore was set up as a contingency fund to meet the requirement of the weak RRBs, particularly those in the north-eastern and the eastern region.
Organizational structure Amalgamation
RRBs periodically go through a process of amalgamation. In January 2013, 25 RRBs were amalgamated into 10 RRBs, totaling 67 RRBs. In March 2016, there were 56 RRBs, covering 525 districts with a network of 14,494 branches. In April 2020, there were 43 RRBs. As of 1 May 2025, there are 28 RRBs covering with a network of 22,966 branches in India.
Legal significance RRBs are recognized by the law and they have legal significance. The Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 Act No. 21 of 1976 [9 February 1976.] reads:The Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976
List of RRBs
There are 28 regional rural banks in India, as of 1 October 2026.
State Bank name Established Headquarters Branches Sponsor bank Official WebsiteAndhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Grameena Bank2025 Guntur, Andhra Pradesh 1,365Union Bank of India https://apgb.bank.in Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank1983Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh38State Bank of India https://aprb.bank.in Assam Assam Gramin Bank2019Guwahati, Assam464 Punjab National Bank https://agvb.bank.inBihar Bihar Gramin Bank 2025Patna, Bihar2,885 Punjab National Bank https://bgb.bank.in Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh Gramin Bank2013Raipur, Chhattisgarh629 State Bank of India https://cgb.bank.inGujarat Gujarat Gramin Bank2025Vadodara, Gujarat745 Bank of Baroda https://ggb.bank.in Haryana Haryana Gramin Bank2013Rohtak, Haryana698 Punjab National Bank http://hgb.bank.in Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank 2013Mandi, Himachal Pradesh278 Punjab National Bank https://hpgb.bank.inJammu And Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir Grameen Bank 2025Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir 330 Jammu & Kashmir Bank https://jkgrameen.bank.in Jharkhand Jharkhand Gramin Bank 2019Ranchi, Jharkhand 463 State Bank of India https://jrgbank.bank.inKarnataka Karnataka Grameena Bank2025Ballari, Karnataka1,751Canara Bank https://karnatakagb.bank.in Kerala Kerala Grameena Bank 2013Malappuram, Kerala635 Canara Bank https://kgb.bank.in Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Gramin Bank 2025Indore, Madhya Pradesh1,321 Bank of India https://mpgb.bank.inMaharashtra Maharashtra Gramin Bank 2025Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra759 Bank of Maharashtra https://mahagramin.bank.in Manipur Manipur Rural Bank 1981Imphal, Manipur28 Punjab National Bank https://manipurrural.bank.in Meghalaya Meghalaya Rural Bank 1981Shillong, Meghalaya90 State Bank of India https://megrb.bank.in Mizoram Mizoram Rural Bank 1983Aizawl, Mizoram106 State Bank of India https://mrb.bank.in Nagaland Nagaland Rural Bank 1983Kohima, Nagaland14 State Bank of India https://www.nrb.bank.in https://nrb.bank.inOdisha Odisha Grameen Bank 2025Bhubaneswar, Odisha979 Indian Overseas Bank https://odishabank.bank.in Puducherry Puducherry Grama Bank2008Pondicherry, Puducherry 48 Indian Bankhttps://pygb.bank.in Punjab Punjab Gramin Bank 2019 Kapurthala, Punjab 479Punjab National Bank https://pgb.bank.inRajasthan Rajasthan Gramin Bank2025Jaipur, Rajasthan 1,596 State Bank of India https://rgb.bank.in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Grama Bank 2019Salem, Tamil Nadu704Indian Bank https://tngb.bank.in Telangana Telangana Grameena Bank2025Hyderabad, Telangana944State Bank of India https://tgb.bank.in Tripura Tripura Gramin Bank 1976Agartala, Tripura149 Punjab National Bank https://tripuragramin.bank.inUttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank2025Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh4,330Bank of Baroda https://upgb.bank.in Uttarakhand Uttarakhand Gramin Bank 2012Dehradun, Uttarakhand290 State Bank of India https://ukgb.bank.inWest Bengal West Bengal Gramin Bank 2025Berhampur,Murshidabad ,West Bengal960 Punjab National Bank https://wbgb.bank.in
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