Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday that the government has so far disbursed Rs 2,071 crore for 4,003 projects through the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Tomar stated that the scheme has so far sanctioned 8,488 projects with a total loan sum of Rs 6,098 crore.
"Out of which, Rs 2,071 crores have been disbursed for 4,003 projects," he added.
Madhya Pradesh had the most projects sanctioned, with 1,954 projects, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 1,424 projects, Karnataka with 900 projects, Uttar Pradesh with 684 projects, Rajasthan with 654 projects, and Maharashtra with 555 projects.
The statistics presented to the Lower House revealed that 5,067 projects were sanctioned by primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACs), 2,576 projects by agri-entrepreneurs, 685 projects by individual farmers, 61 projects by farmer producer organisations, and 53 projects by start-ups.
Through interest subvention and financial support, the agriculture infrastructure fund, established in 2020, aims to provide a medium-long term debt financial facility through 2025-26 for investment in suitable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets.
About National Agriculture Infra Financing Facility
Infrastructure plays a critical role in agriculture growth and advancing production dynamics to the next level. Only by investing in infrastructure, particularly at the post-harvest stage, can the produce be used to its full potential, with opportunities for value addition and a fair deal for the farmers.
In light of the foregoing, the Hon'ble Finance Minister announced a 1 lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund for farmers on May 15, 2020. Agriculture Infrastructure Projects at farm-gate and aggregation sites would be funded using a Rs. 1,00,000 crore financing facility (Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, Farmers Producer Organizations, Agriculture entrepreneurs, Start-ups, etc.).
Credit guarantee coverage under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme would be provided for qualifying borrowers from this financing facility for loans up to 2 crore. The government will fund the cost of this coverage. In the case of FPOs, the credit guarantee can be obtained through the DA&FW's FPO promotion scheme.
