<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Rural Rethink Advisory | India]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rural Rethink Advisory — climate risk, agri finance and digital transformation for rural banks, NBFCs, MFIs and development institutions in India.]]></description><link>https://www.ruralrethink.com/insights</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:12:26 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.ruralrethink.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Climate finance is not a new asset class. It is a new lens on every asset class.]]></title><description><![CDATA[A crop loan in Vidarbha is a climate exposure. A dairy unit in Bundelkhand is a climate exposure. A warehouse in coastal Odisha is a climate exposure. We just did not price it that way. The global conversation has moved fast — TCFD, ISSB, green taxonomies, blended finance, transition finance. But the real work is quieter and harder. It is sitting with a credit officer in a rain-fed district and asking: what happens to this portfolio when the monsoon shifts by three weeks? What happens to...]]></description><link>https://www.ruralrethink.com/post/climate-finance-is-not-a-new-asset-class-it-is-a-new-lens-on-every-asset-class</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b7c202bae3e80016198512</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 08:41:27 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Manoj Rawat</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[PSL Optimisation — Strategies Every RRB and Cooperative Bank Should Know]]></title><description><![CDATA[Priority Sector Lending targets create both obligations and opportunities. Most institutions treat PSL as a compliance burden. The smarter ones treat it as a portfolio strategy opportunity. Here is what effective PSL optimisation looks like in practice. Know your sub-target gaps early.  Agriculture, small and marginal farmers, weaker sections — each has its own sub-target. Most shortfalls are not in overall PSL but in specific sub-targets. Identify your gaps in Q1, not Q4. You cannot fix a...]]></description><link>https://www.ruralrethink.com/post/psl-optimisation-strategies-every-rrb-and-cooperative-bank-should-know</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699b8a3c8133563068c7f95c</guid><pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 22:59:16 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Manoj Rawat</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[AI in Rural Credit — Practical Use Cases vs Hype]]></title><description><![CDATA[Artificial intelligence in rural lending is generating enormous excitement. Satellite imagery, machine learning, alternative data — the possibilities sound transformative. Some of it is real. A lot of it is hype. After working in rural finance for three decades, here is my honest assessment. What is real and working: Alternative data credit scoring is genuinely useful where traditional data is absent. ML models using satellite imagery to verify crop acreage, weather data to assess production...]]></description><link>https://www.ruralrethink.com/post/ai-in-rural-credit-practical-use-cases-vs-hype</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699b887dcfa5020e41bce9a5</guid><pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 22:52:11 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Manoj Rawat</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How FPO-Mediated Credit Works — and Why It Is One of the Most Promising Models in Rural Finance]]></title><description><![CDATA[Farmer Producer Organisations have been around for years. But most lenders still do not know how to lend through them effectively. The result: FPOs remain underleveraged as a credit channel despite being one of the strongest structures available for reaching small farmers. Here is how FPO-mediated credit works at its core. The FPO sits between the lender and individual farmers. Instead of appraising 200 small farmers individually — each with informal income, fragmented land records and high...]]></description><link>https://www.ruralrethink.com/post/how-fpo-mediated-credit-works-and-why-it-is-one-of-the-most-promising-models-in-rural-finance</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699b87bab89ac23fa77dfede</guid><pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 22:50:25 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Manoj Rawat</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Climate Risk is Now the Defining Challenge for Agricultural Lending]]></title><description><![CDATA[After 30 years in rural banking, I have seen many risks come and go. Drought years, NPA cycles, regulatory changes. But nothing compares to what climate change is doing to agricultural lending portfolios — and most institutions are still not taking it seriously enough. Physical risks are already here. Drought, flood, cyclone, heat stress — these are not future projections. They are current realities affecting crop yields and borrower repayment capacity across districts we have lent to for...]]></description><link>https://www.ruralrethink.com/post/why-climate-risk-is-now-the-defining-challenge-for-agricultural-lending</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699b8490b89ac23fa77df813</guid><pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 22:35:32 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Manoj Rawat</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>