The Fund will catalyze the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the financing facility of Rs. 1 lakh crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund on Sunday via video conferencing. He will also release the sixth instalment of funds of Rs. 17,000 crore to 8.5 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme, the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) said in a statement.

According to the statement, the event will be witnessed by lakhs of farmers, cooperatives, and citizens across the country. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar will also be present.

The Union Cabinet had approved the Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the fund. This will catalyze the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets such as cold storage, collection centres, and processing units, the statement said.

It added that these assets would enable farmers to get greater value for their produce, as they would be able to store and sell them at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.

The scheme’s financing facility will be in partnership with multiple lending institutions. According to the PMO statement, 11 of the 12 Public Sector Banks have already signed MOUs with the DAC&FW. The beneficiaries will be provided 3% interest subvention and credit guarantee of up to Rs 2 crore to increase the viability of these projects.

As per the statement, 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. “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,” the PMO statement added.