13-Dec-2022: Agriculture Infrastructure gap

Agriculture Infrastructure in India

• Government of India launched Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) to bridge the Agriculture Infrastructure gap.
• AIF is a medium-long term debt financing facility through interest subvention and credit guarantee support on loans for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets.
• 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 under CGTMSE for loans up to Rs. 2 Crores.
• Eligible beneficiaries include farmers, FPOs, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.
• Projects include Supply chain services including e-marketing platforms, Warehouses, Silos, Pack houses, Assaying units, Sorting & grading units, Cold chains, Logistics facilities, Primary processing centres, Ripening Chambers, Organic inputs production, Bio stimulant production units, Infrastructure for smart and precision agriculture, and projects identified for providing supply chain infrastructure for clusters of crops including export clusters.
• Since the inception of the scheme in Aug 2020, loan amounting to Rs. 13681 Crores have been sanctioned for 18321 projects mobilizing an investment of Rs. 27184 crores in agriculture sector.
• Other schemes implemented for bringing improvements in the Infrastructure Facilities in the Agriculture include Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) scheme, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

AMI Sub-Scheme

• Sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) providing assistance for construction/ renovation of godowns/ warehouses in the rural areas in the States to enhance the storage capacity for agriculture produce.
• Subsidy is provided at the rate of 25% and 33.33% on capital cost of the project based on the category of eligible beneficiary.
• Assistance under this scheme is available to Individuals, Farmers, Group of farmers/growers, Agripreneurs, Registered Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs), Cooperatives, and state agencies etc.
• Since 01.04.2001 and up to 31.10.2022, a total of 42079 storage infrastructure projects (Godowns), with storage capacity of 738.34 Lakh MT for beneficiaries including farmers have been assisted under AMI sub-scheme in the country.

e-NAM Scheme

• A virtual platform integrating physical wholesale mandis/ markets of different States/ Union Territories (UTs) to facilitate online trading of agriculture and horticulture commodities to enable farmers to realize better remunerative prices for their produce.
• As on 30th November, 2022, 1260 mandis of 22 States and 03 Union Territories (UTs) have been integrated with e-NAM platform.
• More than 1.74 crore farmers & 2.3 Lakh traders have been registered on e-NAM platform.
• The agricultural produce trade with a value of Rs 2.34 lakh crore have been recorded on e-NAM platform.

MIDH

• Financial assistance for setting up of Post-Harvest Management Infrastructure including cold storage, cold room facilities for horticultural produce @ 35% of the project cost in general areas and 50% in case of hilly and scheduled areas per beneficiary is available.
• The component is demand/ entrepreneur driven through commercial ventures for which Government assistance is credit linked and back ended.

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under which the funds are released to the State Governments as Grants-in-Aid on the basis of projects in Agriculture & allied sectors approved in the State Level Sanctioning Committee Meeting (SLSC) headed by the Chief Secretary of the concerned State, which is the empowered body to approve projects under the scheme. In this scheme Sates has flexibility and autonomy in the process of selection, planning, approval and execution projects in agriculture and allied sectors as per their priorities. RKVY is primarily a project oriented scheme, the benefit of which is available to all sections of the farming community.

30-Jul-2022: Shri Narendra Singh Tomar says Agriculture Infrastructure Fund a good opportunity for States to make agriculture prosperous

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, today said the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat campaign, is scaling new milestones. Underlining the role of AIF in bridging the Agri Infra gap by empowering agriculture and villages and boosting private investment, Shri Tomar said the Agri Infra Fund has been brought to increase agricultural productivity, increase agricultural exports, make agriculture sector employable and attract the new generation.  Shri Tomar was addressing the Agri Infra Fund Awards ceremony in New Delhi today.

“In the AatmaNirbhar Bharat campaign, more than Rs. 1.5 lakh crore are being invested in Agriculture and allied sectors. This should be used by the State Governments and banks together in the development of the Agriculture sector. This is a great opportunity for the States to fill the gaps in funding agricultural infrastructure. State governments should use it to make Agriculture strong and prosperous, which will make the country develop at a faster pace,” he said.

Shri Tomar said that agriculture sector is important for India. “The primacy of Agriculture has proved itself from time to time. Agriculture helped India come out of the Covid crisis and made a significant contribution to the economy at a time when other sectors were badly affected. Today India is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of agricultural produce,” said Shri Tomar.

“If you want to move forward in this field, then you have to identify the challenges and overcome them. There are 86 percent small farmers in the country, who own less than two hectares of land, while 55 to 60 percent of the country's population is dependent on Agriculture. In such a situation, continuous efforts are being made for the last eight years under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to upgrade the Agriculture sector. KCC has been increased from Rs 7 lakh crore to Rs 16.5 lakh crore. Banks are offering simple loan facility. Along with this, work is being done to form 10,00 FPOs so that the area under cultivation is increased, the quality of production is improved and the farmers can get good price for their produce,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Kailash Choudhary dwelled on the role of Banks and Government agencies in empowering farmers and make the nation self-sufficient. Prime Minister Modi took a bold step by paving easy farm loans as he scrapped the need for a collateral, saying the Government of India will stand guarantee, he said.

In his address, Secretary, DA&FW, Shri Manoj Ahuja, called for improved monitoring to make the loan process faster in line with the promptness of the portal based loan approval mechanism.

Joint Secretary, DA&FW, Shri Samuel Praveen Kumar made a detailed presentation on the two year-journey of AIF. While showering accolades on the Bankers and State Governments for their contribution, he urged them to reinvigorate their teams to make the on-going NOBOL (Nationwide One Branch One Loan) Campaign a grand success.

On the occasion, Shri Tomar gave away the awards under various categories to honour Banks and State Governments for their valuable contribution in financing under the Central Sector Scheme of ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’.

Among the Best Performing Banks, State Bank of India was awarded as numero uno followed by Punjab National Bank and Bank of India. In the second category where banks were awarded for their valuable contribution, Bank of Baroda followed by Central Bank of India, Canara Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were honoured. In the Target Achievers Category during the Campaign, awarded Banks were Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab & Sind Bank and Karnataka Bank. Among the Best Performing Regional Rural Banks, Madhya Pradesh Gramin Bank followed by Madhyanchal Gramin Bank, Maharashtra Gramin Bank, Baroda Rajasthan Kshetriya Gramin Bank were awarded.

In the State category, Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the best performing State, whereas Andhra Pradesh was recognised as best performer in sanction of PACS applications. As the best performer in faster disposal of PACS applications, Karnataka was awarded and Rajasthan was declared the Rising State under AIF. NABARD Consultancy services, the Knowledge Partner for this Scheme was honoured for the laudable contribution in carrying forward the Scheme.

Shri Tomar and General Manager, Bank of India also handed over the sanction letter to one of the Beneficiaries of Drone project. Later, the Award winning Bankers and States and successful beneficiaries shared their experience with the audience.

Addl. Secretary Sri Abhilaksh Likhi, Senior Officials from the Ministry and Government Officials from various States, Top Executives and senior officials from Banks, NABARD, NABCONS and Beneficiaries of AIF scheme and others participants joined the event.

Agri Infra Fund, under the ambitious AatmaNirbhar Bharat Package as a dedicated central scheme providing medium-long term credit facility for creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets, will be celebrating its 2nd foundation day next month.  This facility comes with financial support by way of three percent Interest subvention from Government and credit guarantee by CGTMSE up to Rupees 2 crore. This scheme can be converged with most of the existing Central schemes in terms of combination of benefits of different schemes. This has immensely benefitted stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem - Farmers, Agri-entrepreneur, FPO, SHG, JLG, PACS, APMC, Startups, Central Marketing Cooperative Societies and State Agencies.

As of now, there has been sanction of 13,700 projects, costing investment of around Rs.17,500 crore with a sanction of Rs 10,131 crore loans. On an average 30 agriculture infrastructure projects per day are being sanctioned under the scheme all over the country in shape of warehouses, assaying units, primary processing units, custom hiring centres, sorting & grading units, cold store and cold chain projects, bio-stimulant manufacturing facilities, seed processing units, etc. which will have huge impact in changing the agriculture landscape of the country.

22-Mar-2022: Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme was launched with an objective to mobilize a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through incentives and financial support in order to improve agriculture infrastructure in the country. So far, AIF portal has received 19000+ applications seeking subsidized loan worth Rs 13,400 crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme. Out of this, a total of 10394 projects have been sanctioned under the scheme worth loan of Rs.7677 crore which includes in principle sanction by NABARD.

Further, to make the scheme more attractive DA&FW have increased project limit of one project per beneficiary to upto 25 projects per beneficiary and also included APMCs, Federations of FPOs, SHGs and Cooperative and State agencies as eligible beneficiaries under the scheme. For the awareness creation Hon’ble Agriculture Minister had conducted two review meetings with the Chief Ministers of all the states (August 2020 and September 2021) and department is conducting various awareness programmes, workshops and review meetings with State Nodal Officers, Bank Officials, Applicants, Agri-entrepreneur, FPOs etc. on a regular basis.

Besides, on the basis of the share in agriculture production, the Rs.1 lakh crore debt financing facility has been tentatively allocated to each of the states and UTs. However, the state wise allocated target issued in the guidelines is indicative in nature. The amount will be distributed among states on first cum first serve basis with the overall financial limit of ₹1 lakh crore under the fund.

21-Dec-2021: Role of Agricultural Infrastructure

Infrastructure plays a vital role in agriculture at every single step like for the supply of input, sowing of crops and for the post-harvest management. Planned investment in agriculture infrastructure sector is important to enhance the productivity and to reduce the post-harvest losses this will also result in capacity building and higher income generation. In India post-harvest losses are relatively higher because of gap of basic agriculture infrastructures like storage houses, pack houses, absence of proper supply chain etc.

In view of above, Government of India has formulated a Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’ which was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 9th August 2020for creating required pre and post-harvest management infrastructures in the agriculture sector. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund aims at providing a medium/long term debt financing facility till 2025-2026 through 3% interest subvention and credit guarantee support on loans for creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets. Community farming assets eligible under Agri Infra Fund includes: (i) Organic inputs production (ii) Bio stimulant production units (iii) Infrastructure for smart and precision agriculture. (iv) Projects identified for providing supply chain infrastructure for clusters of crops including export clusters. (v) Projects promoted by Central/State/Local Governments or their agencies under PPP for building community farming assets or post-harvest management projects. In addition to the aforementioned community farming assets, farmer communities such as PACS, FPOs, SHGs, JLGs, Multipurpose Co-op societies, Marketing Co-op societies and their federations are also eligible to get the benefit under Agri Infra Fund for creation of following post-harvest management infrastructures: (i) Supply chain services including e-marketing platforms (ii) Warehouses (iii)Silos (iv)Pack houses (v) Assaying units (vi)Sorting &grading units (vii) Cold chains (viii) Logistics facilities (ix)Primary processing centres (x) Ripening Chambers. Since the inception of the scheme in Aug 2020, loan amounting to Rs. 6182 Cores have been sanctioned for 8630 Projects across the country. Out of which Rs 77.9 Crores for 210 projects has been sanctioned in the state of Odisha.

The Government has been assisting the state Governments for bringing improvements in the Infrastructure Facilities in the Agriculture Sector through implementing various schemes as per details given below:

1. In order to promote scientific storage facilities in rural areas of the country, the Government is already implementing Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) which is a sub-scheme under the Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM). AMI scheme is a demand driven with back ended credit linked subsidy scheme in which rate of subsidy provided is @ 25% and 33.33% based on the category of eligible beneficiary. Assistance under the sub-scheme is available to Individual, Group of farmers/growers, Registered Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs) etc.
2. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) under which financial assistance for setting up of Post-Harvest Management Infrastructure including cold storage, cold room facilities for horticultural produce @ 35% of the project cost in general areas and 50% in case of hilly and scheduled areas per beneficiary is available. The component is demand/ entrepreneur driven through commercial ventures for which Government assistance is credit linked and back ended.
3. Government of India has launched National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Scheme on 14th April, 2016 with the objective of creating online transparent competitive bidding system to facilitate farmers with remunerative prices for their produce.So far, 1000 mandis of 18 States and 3 UTs have been integrated with e-NAM platform.
4. Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) is being implemented w.e.f April,2014.The scheme aims at ‘reaching the un-reached’ by bringing to the small and marginal farmers in the core and giving the benefits of farm mechanization, by Promoting ‘Custom Hiring Centers’ , creating hubs for hi-tech & high value farm equipment, distribution of various agricultural equipment, creating awareness among stakeholders through demonstration and capacity building activities, and ensuring performance- testing and certification at designated testing centers located all over the country.
5. Under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY),the funds are released to the State Governments as Grants-in-Aid on the basis of projects in Agriculture & allied sectors approved in the State Level Sanctioning Committee Meeting (SLSC) headed by the Chief Secretary of the concerned State, which is the empowered body to approve projects under the scheme.
6. Government is promoting certified organic production under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for NE Region (MOVCDNER) since 2015-16. The scheme provide end to end support to organic farmers from organic production to certification and marketing including post-harvest management support like processing, packaging, storage etc. Need based financial support for creating infrastructure facilities like integrated processing unit, integrated pack-house, cold store etc. are provided to States under MOVCDNER

No specific study for assessing the impact of initiatives/ schemes since 2014 on the income of farmers of West Bengal has been carried out. However, Impact Evaluation Study of MIDH Scheme has been taken twice since 2014. As per the report, the average income of the horticulture farmers has been increased. Improved horticultural practices and income enhancement have led the farmers to invest further for expansion. Therefore, the scheme has also generated direct and indirect employment in various parts of the country as well.

The Central Sector Scheme (AIF) aims at providing a medium-long term debt financing facility till 2025-2026 through 3% interest subvention and credit guarantee support on loans for creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets to numerous beneficiaries including farmers.

1-Dec-2021: Strengthening of Agriculture Produce Market Infrastructure

In order to strengthen the infrastructure in APMCs, they have been recognized as one of the eligible entities under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. Under the AIF,APMCs are eligible for multiple projects (of different infrastructure types) within their designated market area.

Further, Government of India has launched National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Scheme on 14th April, 2016 with the objective of creating online transparent competitive bidding system to facilitate farmers with remunerative prices for their produce. Under the e-NAM Scheme, Government is providing free software and assistance of Rs. 75.00 Lakh per mandi for related hardware including quality assaying equipments and creation of infrastructure like cleaning, grading, sorting, packaging and compost unit etc. So far, 1000 mandis of 18 States and 3 UTs have been integrated with e-NAM platform.

Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’ was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 9th August 2020.

The scheme provides following support for creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets;

Interest Subvention: All loans under this financing facility have interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a limit of Rs. 2 crores. This subvention is available for a maximum period of 7 years. APMCs are eligible for multiple projects (of different infrastructure types) within their designated market area. In such cases, interest subvention for a loan up to Rs. 2 crores will be provided for each project of different infrastructure types e.g. cold storage, sorting, grading and assaying units, silos, etc. within the designated market area of the APMC.

7-Sep-2021: States should take advantage of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund so that benefits can reach small and marginal farmers

On the 2nd day of the Chief Ministers’ conference on initiatives and schemes of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Union Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar emphasized that the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is set up to drive infra investments and will facilitate and drive speedy sanctions through a user friendly online portal. He urged the states to take advantage of the fund so that the benefits can percolate to the small and marginal farmers who lack warehousing and cold storage facilities at the farm gate. Speaking about digital agriculture mission the Minister stated that farmers’ database is our wealth and will usher in focused programme delivery, reducing seepages, better policy formulation and smart farming in the country. Database with 5.5 crore farmers is ready and work is progressing for verifying others with land records.

Shri Tomar informed that the Union Cabinet recently approved National Edible Oil Mission (NMEO-OP) for palm oil with focus on the North-East regions and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Through this, the production of edible oils will be accelerated in the country thereby reducing the import of edible oils. This mission will immensely benefit the palm oil farmers, increase capital investment, generate employment, reduce dependence on imports and increase the income of farmers. During the meeting, the states of Northeast appreciated the National Edible Oil-Palm Oil Mission started by the Central Government and assured their cooperation in its implementation at their level.

Shri Piyush Goyal while addressing the conference on the second day said that the central government is working in close alignment with the State governments to transform the future of farmers. He said that food security is synonymous with farmers’ security and reforms for farmers have put India on the path of AtmaNirbhar Bharat. On Agriculture exports the Minister said that exports have an important role to play in doubling farmers’ income and India should aim to become the top 5 Agri exporting nations. Talking about ‘One District, One Product’, the Minister said that 106 products have been identified from 103 districts and districts should be promoted as export hubs to ensure that local goes global. He informed that red rice is now being exported to USA and Jackfruit from Tripura is being sent to UK. Free Trade Agreements are being worked out for better markets.

A presentation on themes of the conference was made by Additional Secretary Shri Vivek Agarwal. He outlined the vision AtmaNirbhar Agriculture that will transform farmers into entrepreneurs with higher income and better quality of life, make India the food basket of the world and make agriculture the go to investment opportunity. To achieve AtmaNirbhar Agriculture, 10,000 FPOs are planned to be set up, export oriented clusters, organic oriented clusters and digital agriculture would be set up. To bring about transformative change in agriculture discussions with the states centered around the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, export of Agriculture products, self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds (Natural Mission on oilseeds and oil palm). PM Kisan and KCC data matching with focus on saturation of KCCs for small and marginal farmers and national farmers database with connectivity to state land records database.

Union Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ms. Shobha Karandlaje and Shri Kailash Choudhary were present at meeting. The Chief Ministers and Agriculture Ministers appreciated the efforts made by the Central Government for the progress of the agriculture sector and gave their suggestions regarding various schemes and some regional problems. The state governments of the North-East have praised the new National Edible Oil Mission– ​​Palm Oil, saying that it will definitely bring a paradigm shift in the economy of their states. They thanked the Prime Minister Shri Modi and the Agriculture Minister Shri Tomar. The Government of Karnataka gave a presentation on the Crop Survey Project and APEDA gave a presentation on agricultural exports.

6-Aug-2021: Aim and Objectives of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF)

The objective of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme is to mobilize a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through incentives and financial support in order to improve agriculture infrastructure in the country.

The scheme provide financial assistance in the form of interest subvention and credit guarantee for setting Post Harvest Management (PHM) projects which will help better post-harvest management and reduction in wastage.

The following community farming assets projects are eligible under the scheme:-

1. Organic inputs production
2. Bio stimulant production units
3. Infrastructure for smart and precision agriculture.
4. Projects identified for providing supply chain infrastructure for clusters of crops including export clusters.
5. Projects promoted by Central/State/Local Governments or their agencies under PPP for building community farming assets or post-harvest management projects.

8-Jul-2021: Cabinet approves modifications in Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’

The Union Cabinet chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today gave its approval to the following modifications in Central Sector Scheme of Financing Facility under ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’:

1. Eligibility has now been extended to State Agencies/APMCs, National & State Federations of Cooperatives, Federations of Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) and Federations of Self Help Groups (SHGs).
2. At present Interest subvention for a loan upto Rs. 2 crore in one location is eligible under the scheme. In case, one eligible entity puts up projects in different locations then all such projects will be now be eligible for interest subvention for loan upto Rs. 2 crore. However, for a private sector entity there will be a limit of a maximum of 25  such projects. This limitation of 25 projects will not be applicable to state agencies, national and state federations of cooperatives, federations of FPOs and federation of SHGs. Location will mean physical boundary of a village or town having a distinct LGD (Local Government Directory) code. Each of such projects should be in a location having a separate LGD code.
3. For APMCs, interest subvention for a loan upto Rs. 2 crore will be provided for each project of different infrastructure types e.g. cold storage, sorting, grading and assaying units, silos, et within the same market yard.
4. The power has been delegated to Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to make necessary changes with regard to addition or deletion of beneficiary in such a manner so that basic spirit of the scheme is not altered.
5. The period of financial facility has been extended from 4 to 6 years upto 2025-26 and overall period of the scheme has been extended from 10 to 13 upto 2032-33.

The modifications in the Scheme will help to achieve a multiplier effect in generating investments while ensuring that the benefits reach small and marginal farmers.  APMC markets are setup to provide market linkages and create an ecosystem of post-harvest public infrastructure open to all farmers.

28-Apr-2021: Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is bringing together the collective power of all stakeholders in the Agriculture ecosystem

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has crossed the Rs. 8000 crore mark after receiving 8,665 applications worth Rs. 8,216 crores. The largest share of the pie is contributed by Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) (58%), Agri-entrepreneurs (24%) and individual farmers (13%). These investments are for a wide range of projects which will unlock value for farmers across the country. States leading the front are Andhra Pradesh (2,125 applications), Madhya Pradesh (1,830), Uttar Pradesh (1,255), Karnataka (1,071) & Rajasthan (613). While most of these states are leveraging their strong cooperatives network to take the lead, Madhya Pradesh stands out with the highest non-PACS applications. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund will bring together the collective power of all stakeholders in the Agriculture ecosystem.

The Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) is undertaking a host of initiatives to accelerate on-ground investments. The department has directly reached out to 150+ FPOs and livelihood organisations, along with IFFCO, HAFED, NAFED & others. The department hosted an agribusiness conclave, supported by CII & FICCI, with 90+ agribusiness participants; where key players like Arya CMA, Mahindra Agri, Tata Consumer, IFFCO and Escorts Cropping Solutions gave presentations on their role in building infrastructure under AIF through partnership with farmers, farmer groups and local entrepreneurs.

The department has been regularly conducting reviews of states to monitor progress & promote cross learnings. In addition to it, a state conclave was conducted with 190+ participants from state departments, where Andhra Pradesh demonstrated its PACS led model & Madhya Pradesh demonstrated its local entrepreneurship led model. States have in turn engaged with a large number of farmers and local entrepreneurs.

These initiatives have led to not only an overall increase in applications but an increase in interest in innovative infra types such as custom hiring centers & farm machinery banks (130 applications worth ~25 crores) and infra for smart & precision agriculture (200 applications worth ~1,300 crores). AIF has brought farmers & agribusinesses together with newer partnership models emerging for the creation of distributed infra near farm-gate in a hub & spoke model. The agribusinesses are increasing awareness about AIF & newer agri-tech amongst FPOs and supporting them in application & adoption. A portal for the scheme has been created with the URL https://agriinfra.dac.gov.in, where applicants can submit applications and all stakeholders can also monitor the progress of the applications.

AIF is gaining momentum with all the right initiatives being undertaken to bring together agri-businesses & farmers, promoting cross-learnings across states & undertaking global benchmarking to build world-class Agri-infra. AIF has the potential to completely transform the agriculture infrastructure landscape of the country.

About Agriculture Infrastructure Fund: The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund 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. The duration of the scheme is from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). Under the 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 under CGTMSE for loans up to Rs. 2 Crores. Eligible beneficiaries include farmers, FPOs, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.

12-Feb-2021: Utilization of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

The Scheme has provision of a National Level Monitoring Committee (NLMC), State Level Monitoring Committee (SLMC) and District Level Monitoring Committee (DLMC) to monitor the scheme progress. NLMC has been constituted and many States have also formed SLMCs. 1st Meeting of NLMC was held on 26.08.2020. Further, a weekly progress report of the scheme is sent to Cabinet Secretariat. Apart from this, a Central Project Monitoring Unit has been set up to verify the applications for projects received on the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) portal. However, the final authority to sanction loans is with the banks after checking details and viability of the projects. As such only eligible and viable projects can get financed under the scheme which will ensure proper utilization of the funds.

As on date Commercial Banks have sanctioned Rs.267.3 Crores loan in respect of total 261 projects of entities other than Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) for construction of warehouse/cold storage. Of this, Rs. 58.9 crores loan amount has been disbursed so far. In respect of PACS, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs. 686.2507 Crores loans for total 1342 projects for construction of warehouse/cold storage. As of now NABARD has in-principle sanctioned Rs. 2991 crores loans to PACS under AIF. 

8-Aug-2020: PM to launch financing facility under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will launch the financing facility of Rs. 1 lakh crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund on 9th August at 11 AM via video conferencing. Prime Minister will also release the sixth instalment of funds of Rs. 17,000 crore to 8.5 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme. The event will be witnessed by lakhs of farmers, cooperatives, and citizens across the country. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, will also be present on the occasion.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under “Agriculture Infrastructure Fund” of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore. 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. Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be sanctioned under the financing facility in partnership with multiple lending institutions; 11 of the 12 Public Sector Banks have already signed MOUs with the DAC&FW. 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, launched on 01 December 2018, has provided a direct cash benefit of over Rs. 75,000 Crore to more than 9.9 Crore farmers. This has enabled them to fulfil their agricultural requirements and support their families. The rollout and implementation of the PM-KISAN scheme has happened at an unparalleled pace, with funds being directly transferred into the Aadhaar authenticated beneficiaries’ bank account to prevent leakage and increase convenience for farmers. The scheme has also been instrumental in supporting farmers during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the release of nearly Rs 22,000 Crore to aid the farmers during the lockdown period.

8-Jul-2020: Cabinet approves Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under 'Agriculture Infrastructure Fund'

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today has given its approval to a new pan India Central Sector Scheme-Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. The scheme shall provide 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 financial support.

Under the scheme, Rs. One Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG), Farmers, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, Aggregation Infrastructure Providers and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public Private Partnership Project

Loans will be disbursed in four years starting with sanction of Rs. 10,000 crore in the current year and Rs. 30,000 crore each in next three financial years.

All loans under this financing facility will have interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a limit of Rs. 2 crore. This subvention will be available for a maximum period of seven years. Further, credit guarantee coverage will be available for eligible borrowers from this financing facility under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for a loan up to Rs. 2 crore. The fee for this coverage will be paid by the Government. In case of FPOs the credit guarantee may be availed from the facility created under FPO promotion scheme of Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DACFW).

The total outflow as budgetary support from Government of India (GoI) will be Rs.10,736 crore.

Moratorium for repayment under this financing facility may vary subject to minimum of 6 months and maximum of 2 years.

The Project by way of facilitating formal credit to farm and farm processing-based activities is expected to create numerous job opportunities in rural areas.

Agri Infra fund will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS) platform. It will enable all the qualified entities to apply for loan under the fund. The online platform will also provide benefits such as transparency of interest rates offered by multiple banks, scheme details including interest subvention and credit guarantee offered, minimum documentation, faster approval process as also integration with other scheme benefits.

The National, State and District level Monitoring Committees will be set up to ensure real-time monitoring and effective feed-back.

The duration of the Scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years).