Kolkata, Aug 30 (IANS): The Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLCs) scheme is gaining popularity as the total trading volume of the platform stood at Rs 1,843.3 billion at the end of last financial year, up from Rs 498 billion in the previous year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Wednesday.

The PSLCs scheme was introduced in April 2016 as a mechanism to incentivise banks which surpass their targets in lending to different categories under the priority sector.

"The PSLC platform saw active participation from all the eligible entities including Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) and Small Finance Banks (SFBs) during 2017-18. At end-March 2018, total trading volume of PSLCs was Rs 1,843.3 billion as against Rs 498 billion at end-March 2017," the central bank said in its latest Annual Report released on Wednesday.

In a manner similar to carbon credit trading, PSLCs allow market mechanism to drive the priority sector lending by leveraging the comparative strength of different banks.

Explaining the scheme, the apex bank said a bank with an expertise in lending to small and marginal farmers can exceed targets and derive benefits by selling the over-achieved credit target through PSLCs. Another bank that is better at lending to small enterprises can buy these certificates while selling PSLCs for micro-enterprise loans.

Among the four PSLC categories, the highest trading was observed in the case of PSLC general and PSLC small and marginal farmer with the transaction volumes being Rs 796.72 billion and Rs 696.22 billion, respectively, it said.