August 11, 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced Rs 1 lakh crore mega Agriculture Infrastructure Fund as part of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package announced by the Centre to help farmers, businesses and poor tide over the coronavirus crisis.
Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, the government will provide easy loans worth Rs 1 lakh crore for post-harvest management infrastructures like cold storages, collection centers and processing units over the next four years.
The government has sanctioned Rs 10,000 crore in for the current financial year and Rs 30,000 crore will be sanctioned for the next three years under the fund. With an aim to increase the income of farmers as well as generate employment, about 3 per cent interest subvention and credit guarantee of up to Rs 2 crore will be provided under the fund.
“The fund would bring about the creation of post-harvest management infrastructures and community farming assets such as cold storage, collection centres and processing units,” read a release by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
“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. Rs 1 lakh crore will be sanctioned under the financing facility in partnership with multiple lending institutions, the release stated.
Who will be the beneficiaries of Agri-Infra Fund?
The beneficiaries of the fund will be farmers, primary agri-credit societies, farmer groups, farmer producer organisations (FPOs), agri-entrepreneurs, startups and agri-tech players. The government will partner with several banks and at least 11 of them have already signed a memorandum of agreement with the ministry of agriculture.
During the virtual meeting, the prime minister had also released the sixth yearly installment of Rs 17,100 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.
