J&K banks miss self-employment loan targets for 2025-26

Banks in Jammu and Kashmir missed the loan targets set under the Union Territory's self-employment schemes in 2025-26. A review at the Union Territory Level Bankers' Committee meeting in August 2026 found poor performance under programmes for young entrepreneurs, rural households, weavers and artisans.

Under PM Vishwakarma, banks sanctioned Rs 135.50 crore to 14,645 people against 39,241 sponsored cases up to 31 March 2026, about 37 per cent of the cases. Another 11,912 cases were rejected and 12,684 were still pending with banks. Banks said the monthly EMI of Rs 6,000 is high because the loan tenure is only 18 months.

Under PMEGP, banks gave Rs 303.23 crore to 4,849 people against 11,317 sponsored cases. The target was Rs 926.42 crore for 6,225 people. The meeting linked the low performance to the scheme's portal being non-functional for much of the year.

Under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, banks gave Rs 637.89 crore to 17,986 people, more than the target of Rs 616.45 crore for 28,700 people, but coverage reached only about 63 per cent.

Weavers and artisans fared worst. Under the Pradhan Mantri Weaver's Mudra Yojana, only 227 cases were sponsored, and banks gave Rs 2.11 crore to 142 people against a target of Rs 10.64 crore for 1,064 people. Under the Credit Card Scheme for Artisans and Weavers, banks gave Rs 27.75 crore to 1,853 people against a target of Rs 207 crore for 11,500 people.

Under the J&K Rural Employment Generation Programme, sponsorship beat the target with 2,045 cases, but banks gave Rs 67.75 crore to only 1,004 people against a target of Rs 75 crore for 1,266 people. Barely half of the sponsored cases became loans.

Mission YUVA did better. As on 31 March 2026, J&K Bank and J&K Grameen Bank gave Rs 930.56 crore to 18,753 people under its three variants, against 47,263 sponsored cases. The Chief Secretary told the Mission YUVA department to bring State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank into lending under the scheme, and asked all banks to give easy credit to unemployed youth under these programmes.