Rs 1 Lakh Crore for Agricultural Infrastructure Under AIF; Know Who Can Apply!

Understanding the pivotal role of infrastructure in agricultural development, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the establishment of a Rs 1 lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund on May 15, 2020. This fund is specifically dedicated to farm-gate infrastructure for farmers and is determined to address crucial needs in the agricultural sector.

The financing facility of Rs 1,00,000 crore is designed to support Agriculture Infrastructure Projects at farm-gate and aggregation points, including Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producer Organizations, Agriculture entrepreneurs, and Start-ups.

Objectives and Benefits

Farmers and Farming Organisations

• Improved Marketing Infrastructure: Enhanced facilities for farmers to directly sell to a larger consumer base, leading to increased value realisation and improved overall income

• Reduced Post-harvest Losses: Investments in logistics infrastructure to minimise losses and decrease the number of intermediaries, enabling farmers to sell in the market more efficiently

• Market Independence: Modern packaging and cold storage access empower farmers to choose optimal selling times, fostering market access and independence

• Community Farming Assets: Financing for community farming assets, optimising inputs, and boosting productivity, resulting in substantial savings for farmers.

Government

• Priority Sector Lending Support: Directed priority sector lending to currently unviable projects with interest subvention, incentives, and credit guarantees

• Reduced Food Wastage: Improved post-harvest infrastructure leads to reduced national food wastage, enhancing the global competitiveness of the agriculture sector

• Public Private Partnerships (PPP): Facilitating viable PPP projects for agriculture infrastructure development.

Agri Entrepreneurs and Startups

• Innovation Incentives: Dedicated funding source encouraging innovation in agriculture through the application of technologies like IoT and AI

• Ecosystem Collaboration: Improved avenues for collaboration between entrepreneurs and farmers, fostering technological advancements in the sector.

Banking Ecosystem

• Lower Risk Lending: Credit guarantees, incentives, and interest subvention reduce risk for lending institutions, enabling them to expand their customer base and diversify portfolios

• Role of Cooperative Banks: Increased role for cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) through refinance facilities.

Consumers

• Reduced Inefficiencies: Improved post-harvest ecosystem leading to a larger share of produce reaching the market, ensuring better quality and prices for consumers.

Who All Are Eligible?

• Agricultural Produce Market Committee

• Agri-Entrepreneur

• Central Sponsored Public-Private Partnership Project

• Farmer

• Farmer Producers Organization

• Federation of Farmer Produce Organisations

• Joint Liability Groups

• Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Project

• Marketing Cooperative Society

• Multipurpose Cooperative Society

• National Federations of Cooperatives

• Primary Agricultural Credit Society

• Self Help Group

• Federations of Self-Help Groups

• Start-Up

• State Agencies

• State Federations of Cooperatives

• State-sponsored Public-Private Partnership Project

You can apply using the link: https://agriinfra.dac.gov.in/Home/Login