Govt receives 8,665 applications seeking loan worth Rs 8,216 cr under AIF scheme New Delhi, Apr 29 (KNN) The government has received 8,66...
Govt receives 8,665 applications seeking loan worth Rs 8,216 cr under AIF scheme
New Delhi, Apr 29 (KNN) The government has received 8,665 applications seeking subsidised loan worth Rs 8,216 crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme launched to increase post-harvest infrastructure in the country.
Under the AIF scheme, implemented in 2020-21 for ten years, Rs 1 lakh crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3 per cent 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.
''Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has crossed the Rs 8,000 crore mark, after receiving 8,665 applications worth Rs 8,216 crore. Out of this, over Rs 4,000 crore has been sanctioned so far,'' the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
These investments are for a wide range of projects which will unlock value for farmers across the country, it said.
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,'' it added.
The ministry is taking several initiatives to accelerate on-ground investments. It has directly reached out to over 150 FPOs and livelihood organisations, along with IFFCO, HAFED, NAFED & others.
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 centres & farm machinery banks (130 applications worth ~25 crores) and infra for smart & precision agriculture (200 applications worth ~1,300 crores).
A portal for the scheme has been created with the URL https://ift.tt/32VLT5W, where applicants can submit applications and all stakeholders can also monitor the progress of the applications.
