PM to launch financing facility of Rs 1 lakh cr under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund on Sunday

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to release Rs 1 lakh crore under the 'Agriculture Infrastructure Fund' on Sunday via video conferencing. The Rs 1 lakh crore fund aims to catalyze the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets. The PM will also release the sixth instalment of Rs 17,000 crore to 8.5 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme.
The financing facility of Rs. 1 lakh crore was approved by the Union cabinet as a Central Sector Scheme under the fund. The event will be witnessed by farmers, cooperatives along with Union minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar.
The fund will catalyze the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets such as cold storage, collection centres, processing units, etc. 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, said a ministry statement.
Rs 1 lakh crore will be sanctioned under the financing facility in partnership with multiple lending institutions; 11 of the 12 Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have already signed MoUs with the DAC&FW. A 3% interest subvention and credit guarantee of up to Rs 2 crore will be provided to the beneficiaries to increase the viability of these projects. The beneficiaries of the scheme 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.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna (PM-KISAN) scheme was launched on December 1, 2018 and has provided a direct cash benefit of over 75,000 crore to more than 9.9 crore farmers, as per the agriculture ministry data.
As per the government, the scheme has facilitated transfer of Rs 22,000 crore to aid the farmers during the lockdown period enforced to curb Covid-19 pandemic.