Agri Infra Fund to support farmers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a new Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs.1 lakh crore to support farmers.
The scheme, launched 9 August 2020, covers PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs among others in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure. These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.
Thirty days after Cabinet formally approved the scheme, the first sanction of over Rs.1,000 crore was made to over 2,280 farmer societies. The event was conducted through video conference and was attended by lakhs of farmers, FPOs, cooperatives, PACS, and citizens joining from across the country.
At the same event, the Prime Minister also released the 6th installment under the PM-KISAN scheme of Rs.17,000 crore to nearly 8.5 Crore farmers. The cash benefit was transferred directly to their Aadhaar verified bank accounts with the press of a button. With this transfer, the scheme has provided over Rs.90,000 crore in the hands of more than 10 crore farmers since its launch on 1 December 2018.
Following his interaction with the Primary Agriculture Credit Societies, in his address to the nation, the Prime Minister expressed confidence in how farmers and the agriculture sector will benefit from the scheme and increase India’s ability to compete on the global stage.
Modi reiterated that India has a huge opportunity to invest in post-harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain, and food processing, and build a global presence in areas such as organic and fortified foods.
He also mentioned that this scheme provides a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that reaches farmers in every corner of the country.
The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee.
The duration of the scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). Under the scheme, Rs.1 lakh crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE scheme for loans up to Rs.2 crore.
The beneficiaries will include farmers, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, #FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose #Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, #Startups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects. fiinews.com
