With a sanctioned sum of Rs. 15,000 crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), the initiative has raised more than Rs 30,000 crore for projects in the farm infrastructure sector in less than 2.5 years since it was implemented.
AIF is providing all-around financial support to farmers, agri-entrepreneurs, farmer groups like Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Groups (SHGs), Joint Liability Groups (JLGs), and many others to build post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming associations with the help of a 3 per cent interest subvention, credit guarantee support through CGTMSE for a loan of up to Rs 2 crore, and facility of convergence with other Central and State government schemes.
Yogesh CB from the Mandya district of Karnataka was aiming to set up a primary processing center for vegetables after seeing the demand-supply imbalance between the needs of the consumers and the supply of primarily processed vegetables from the farmers. He discovered the AIF scheme in 2020 when searching for the government support that was offered.
On the AIF site, he submitted an application for a loan of Rs 1.9 crore, which was swiftly approved by the Bank of India in December 2020 after being approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
With the help of AIF, he was able to put his vision into action, and Ariant Veg Private Limited was born. He was able to acquire the financing at a substantially reduced effective Rate of Interest (RoI) of just 5.45 per cent owing to the interest subvention offered by AIF.
Currently, Ariant Veg assists more than 250 local farmers by giving them the equipment and seeds they need to grow high-quality veggies. They then purchase the farmers' harvest at a fair price and process it daily before delivering it to the final consumer.
More than 20,000 people are AIF beneficiaries, and its funding has made it possible for them to diversify their profile and advance agricultural growth.
Through the construction and modernization of critical agriculture infrastructure, AIF is subtly altering the face of Indian agriculture. Reduced post-harvest losses, modernized agricultural practices, and improved price realization for farmers are all benefits of these infrastructural investments.
AIF was established on July 8, 2020, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a funding mechanism for the development of post-harvest management infrastructure and communal farm assets. Under this scheme, Rs 1 lakh crore is to be disbursed by financial year 2025-26 and the interest subvention and credit guarantee assistance will be given till the year 2032-33.
