Modi rolls out Rs 1Lakh crores Agriculture Infra Fund

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a financing facility of Rs 1 lakh crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund for agri-entrepreneurs, startups, agri-tech players and farmer groups for post-harvest management and nurturing farm assets.

The Prime Minister launched the new Agriculture Infrastructure Fund through video conference. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and senior ministry officials were present on the occasion.

The fund is aimed at building community farming assets across the country by enhancing India's ability to compete globally in the agri sector. The farm infrastructure will enable farmers to get higher value of their produce as they would be able to store and sell their produce at better prices as per market conditions, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.

Modi also released the sixth installment of Rs 17,100 crore to more than 85.5 million farmer beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.

The cash benefit was transferred directly to the farmers' Aadhaar-verified bank accounts with the press of a button. With this transfer, the scheme has, so far, provided over Rs 90,000 crore in the hands of over 10 crore farmers since its launch in February last year.

Addressing the occasion through a video conference, Modi said the country has a huge opportunity to invest in post-harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain, and food processing, and build a global presence in areas such as organic and fortified foods.

He said this scheme would provide a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that will benefit farmers and create new jobs in every corner of the country.

The Fund, announced as part of the Centre's economic stimulus package in May, is a medium-long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee.

Under the 10-year scheme, Rs 1 lakh crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage for loans up to Rs 2 crore for a maximum period of seven years. There will be a moratorium for repayment from 6 months to 2 years.