Catering to India’s Rural Banking Needs
ICICI Bank’s rural and inclusive banking network delivers customised financial solutions tailored to the unique needs of India’s rural communities. It serves four key ecosystems in the rural market—farmers, dealers, and self-employed individuals by ensuring seamless access to banking services.
Strategic approach and tailored solutions
ICICI Bank’s rural and inclusive banking strategy is designed to harness the diverse opportunities in these ecosystems through specialised financial products. These include agricultural term loan for meeting investment credit requirements, working capital loans for crop cultivation and post-harvest activities, financing against warehouse receipts for secured storage solutions, gold loans, personal loans for individual financial needs, affordable housing finance to support ownership of homes, and auto and vehicle loans for mobility and business requirements.
These offerings are complemented by financial solutions that support micro-finance institutions, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), farmer cooperatives, corporations, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in agriculture-linked businesses.
ICICI Bank’s Rural and Semi-urban Presence
3,480
Business Centres
11,700
Locations served through Business Correspondents
Expanding Rural and Semi-Urban Reach
ICICI Bank empowers rural and semi-urban communities through an extensive nationwide presence, ensuring last-mile banking connectivity via business centres (Branches), ATMs, field staff and Business Correspondents.
At March 31, 2025, ICICI Bank's network includes 6,983 business centres, 50% of which are located in rural and semi-urban areas. It also operates 4,730 ATMs and Cash Recycler Machines in these areas. The Bank currently extends services to 11,700 rural locations through Business Correspondents.
Further, the Bank holds over 4.9 million accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to enhance financial inclusion.
Impact
| Since 2011 | Fiscal 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Women benefitted | 11,398,570 | 1,004,669 |
| SHGs funded | 982,745 | 92,595 |
| First-time SHG borrowers | 496,073 | 31,333 |
Empowering Underprivileged Women for Financial Independence
ICICI Bank actively promotes financial self-reliance among underprivileged women across India. By extending funding and loans, the Bank helps household women enhance income of their families to support livelihoods, children education, medical exigencies and promote entrepreneurship.
ICICI Bank supports the credit needs of Self-Help Groups (SHG)—consisting of 10-20 women engaged in diverse livelihood activities. The SHG members pool their savings to support income-generating ventures.
Since 2011, ICICI Bank has empowered over 11 million women in SHG groups with funds and loans exceeding ₹300 billion.
Success
Story
Omkareshwar Self-Help Group
Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
From Daily Wage Earners to a Flourishing business
For years, we struggled as daily wage earners, barely earned enough to meet our basic needs. Our homes lacked even the essential amenities
In August 2021, some of us came together to form Omkareshwar Self-Help Group. With second-hand sewing machines, we began stitching women’s salwar suits. Encouraged by the positive response, we reached out to large ready-made clothing stores in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, for bulk orders. While the initial contracts were not very profitable, we recognised the need to enhance our skills. Seeking professional training, we turned to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to refine our expertise.
Omkareshwar SHG members with modern sewing machines
प्रशिक्षण से हमेंं अपनेे व्यवसाय को बढ़ााने मेंं मदद मिली, लेकिन पुरानी मशीनेंं हमारी कार्ययक्षमता मेंं बाधा बनी रहींं । इस समस्या का समाधान करने के लिए हमने आईसीआईसीआई बैंंक सेे ऋण लिया, जिससे हम आधुनिक और ब्रांंडेड सिलााई मशीनेंं खरीद पाए। इससे हमाारी उत्पाादकता और गुणवत्ता मेंं उल्लेखनीय सुुधार हुुआ। (The training helped us to scale our business, but outdated machines continued to hinder our efficiency. To address this, we took a loan from ICICI Bank, enabling us to purchase modern, branded sewing machines. This significantly improved our productivity and quality.)
बेेहतर उपकरणों के साथ हमाारी आमदनी दोगुनी हो गई, जिससे हमारेे जीवन मेंं बड़ा बदलाव आया। भविष्य मेंं हम प्रमुख स्थाान पर व्यावसायिक परिसर मेंं अपनेे कारोबार को ले जाने की योजना बना रहे हैंं, ताकि बड़े ऑर्डडर संंभाल सकेंं और अल्ट्रेशन जैसी अतिरिक्त सेवाएंं भी शुरू कर सकेंं। अपनेे इस विस्तार के लिए हमने आईसीआईसीआई बैंंक से एक और ऋण कीी प्रााप्ति की हैै, तााकि हम अपने उद्यम को और आगे बढ़ा सकेंं। (With better equipment, we doubled our income which transformed our lives. In the future, we plan to shift to a commercial space in a prime location to handle larger orders and expand our services to include alterations. We have secured another loan from ICICI Bank to further scale our venture and continue our growth.)
