ICICI Bank will now use satellite data to assess farmers' eligibility for credit

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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ICICI Bank on August 25 said it will now use satellite data to assess the credit-worthiness of farmers. "ICICI Bank will use satellite data to measure a wide range of parameters related to the land, irrigation and crop patterns to make expeditious lending decisions for farmers," the lender said on August 25.

The use of this innovative technology will help farmers with existing credit to enhance their eligibility, while new-to-credit farmers can now get better access to credit, it said.

The Bank, which has been using satellite data on a pilot basis in over 500 villages in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, plans to scale up the initiative to over 63,000 villages across the country.

"This, combined with demographic and financial details, provides strong information on the land asset of the farmers. We believe that usage of this technology will enhance accessibility to credit as new-to-credit farmers will have easy access to formal credit, as well as farmers with existing credit lines will be able to securely expand their eligibility," said Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank.

The lender has partnered with agri–fintech companies specialising in harnessing space technology and weather information for commercial usage, it said in a statement.

The initiative comes at a time when people are advised to stay indoors and avoid travel due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. "The use of satellite data provides a quick and technically-sound analysis of the land, crop and irrigation patterns without a bank official having to visit the land," ICICI Bank said.

The bank will use satellite data to assess rainfall and temperature data of past years, soil moisture levels in past years, surface water availability, trends in crop sowing including crop name, tentative sowing and harvesting weeks, crop health and yields, agriculture land location details including latitude, longitude and boundary of the land and nearby locations of warehouses and mandis.