National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Chhattishgarh office has sanctioned Rs1500 crore to the State's ' CG MARKFED' for procurement of paddy in the current Kharif season.
N P Mohapatra, CGM, NABARD informed that out of this, Rs 500 crores has been disbursed as first instalment on Tuesday.
Further, an amount of Rs.40.34 crore has also been sanctioned to M/s. Indus Best Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd. to set up a Mega Food Processing hub at Tilda, Raipur. An amount of Rs19.76 crore has been disbursed so far.
Notably, NABARD on August 4, 2017 had also announced that it is going to provide Rs4489 crore to Chhattisgarh for development of Agriculture and infrastructure in rural areas.
This is 34% more than that which was assisted by the Bank in the previous financial year (2016-17).
This information was provided by NABARD's Chief General Manager of Chhattisgarh Region N.P. Mahapatra in a press conference held here last year.
He had informed that in order to double the financial income of farmers of country the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill raising the NABARD capital 6 times from 5000 crores to 30,000 crore.
Mahapatra had further informed that the financial assistance to the Chhattisgarh State in the financial year 2015-16 was Rs2816 crores and was increased 39% in the year 2016-17 amounting Rs3928 crores.
Commenting on the rainfall in Chhattisgarh he said the State records 1000 to 1300 mm rainfall in an average and that is good enough for cultivation work. Status of agriculture here is thus satisfactory but work has to be done for better connectivity in the rural region and stop the migration of labour, he said.
He further informed that NABARD has is committed to its motto of Development through credit and is moving ahead for the development of rural area by funding for agriculture, Small and medium scale industries.
The NABARD will provide funding of Rs1050 crore in the financial year 2017-18 for development of infrastructure under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIFD), he said.
The Bank is funding three major irrigation projects namely Kelo, Kharung and Maniyari Tank Scheme here in Chhattisgarh under the Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF). A MoU has been signed by us with Chhattisgarh government in this regard, he said.
One Major contribution of NABARD to the state development is that of funding for Paddy Procurement. To support the welfare of farmers of the state Rs1000 Crore was disbursed to CGMARKFED this year, he informed.
The Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Company Limited (CSPTCL) has been funded Rs142 crores in order to establish sub stations and power transmission system for providing electricity in rural areas of the State, he said.
The C’garh Govt on March 21 , 2017 had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NABARD with the latter agreeing to provide loan worth nearly Rs 715 crore for completion of three incomplete major irrigation schemes under Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme.
These schemes include-- Kelo Major Irrigation Project, Kharang Canal Lining Project and Maniyari Canal Lining, which are to be completed by year 2019 to meet the target. The completion of these projects will expand irrigation facility in 47,685 hectares, officials informed.
Officials of Water Resources Department informed on the occasion had informed that Central Government has included 99 important schemes in Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme, which includes three big projects of C’garh.
All these three projects are on the verge of completion. 99% of the works under these projects has been completed, remaining construction works will also be completed soon.