It will provide financing facilities for investment in post-harvest management infrastructure projects and community farming assets

The creation of an ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’ aimed at injecting formal credit to farm and farm processing-based activities was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, The Financial Express reported.

The scheme, which will also create job opportunities in rural areas, will provide financing facilities for investment in post-harvest management infrastructure projects and community farming assets, the report said.

The Financial Express quoted Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar as saying that the Agricultural Infrastructure Fund would provide loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG), and farmers.

According to the report, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, agri-entrepreneurs, startups, Aggregation Infrastructure Providers, and Public-Private Partnership projects sponsored by the government will also be eligible for loans under this scheme.

The new scheme, which will disburse loans over four years, will begin with Rs 10,000 crore in the current year. The next three financial years will have an allocation of Rs 30,000 crore each, the Financial Express report said.

Loans under this facility will have an interest subvention of 3 per cent annually up to a limit of Rs 2 crore; this will be available for a maximum period of seven years.

The report added that credit guarantee coverage will be available for those who are eligible under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for loans up to Rs 2 crore.

According to the Financial Express, the fund will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS). This will provide a platform to the qualified entities to apply for a loan under the fund.

Read the complete report in The New Indian Express