The first Regional Rural Bank (RRB) set up in India was:

Prathama Grameen Bank was the first Regional Rural Bank (RRB) in India. It was set up on 2 October 1975 (Gandhi Jayanti), with its headquarters at Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. It was sponsored by Syndicate Bank.

On the same day, four other RRBs were also set up: Gorakhpur Kshetriya Gramin Bank (Uttar Pradesh), Haryana Kshetriya Gramin Bank (Haryana), Jaipur-Nagaur Anchalik Gramin Bank (Rajasthan) and Gaur Gramin Bank (West Bengal). So five RRBs began on 2 October 1975, with Prathama being the first.

Background:

RRBs were set up on the recommendation of the Working Group on Rural Banks (1975), chaired by M. Narasimham.

They were first created by an ordinance in September 1975, which was replaced by the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976.

Their aim is to provide credit and other banking facilities to small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans and small entrepreneurs in rural areas, combining the local touch of cooperatives with the business organisation of commercial banks.

Ownership of RRBs:

• Central Government: 50%.
• Sponsor bank (a public sector or other commercial bank): 35%.
• State Government: 15%.

RRBs are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and supervised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Like commercial banks, they have to lend 75% of their total credit to priority sectors.

Over the years, the government has merged (amalgamated) many RRBs to make them stronger. Their number fell from 196 in 2005 to 43 by 2024, and further mergers under the "One State, One RRB" policy in 2025 reduced it to 28.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Gaur Gramin Bank (West Bengal) was among the first five RRBs but not the first.
• ✗Haryana Kshetriya Gramin Bank was also among the first five.
• ✗Jaipur-Nagaur Anchalik Gramin Bank was also among the first five.