As part of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund launched by the West Bengal government, a total of 1,325 crore has been invested in 1,000 projects in agriculture and associated sectors. Cold storages, oil and dal mills, packaging and grading facilities, warehouses, and farm machinery hubs are among the projects.
According to an official press statement, as of April 14, payouts had been made for as many as 881 of the total projects sanctioned.
The state government has emphasized the convergence of activities and efforts to strengthen agriculture infrastructure for the development of agriculture and allied sectors in the state in order to increase farmers' income and employment opportunities through value addition and improved market connectivity.
Several steps have been taken in this direction in recent years, including the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and the convergence of subsidy-linked schemes, as well as banks proactively facilitating project finance to create agricultural infrastructure by farmers, Agri entrepreneurs, FPOs, and PACS.
"The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, which was launched last year, has produced remarkable results in a short period of time, boosting agriculture infrastructure financing in all districts. The total number of projects sanctioned under the initiative has reached 1000, with a total project cost of 1,325 crore," according to the announcement.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund provides a 3% interest subsidy on bank project loans, and loans up to 2 crore in each case are secured under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust, eliminating the need for collateral security for loan sanction. Under the initiative, interest on project loans is only 1% in the case of PACS/cooperatives.
Furthermore, the applicant is eligible for subsidies under any plan, including farm mechanization, financial support under agricultural marketing infrastructure schemes, and MIDH schemes, among others. Awareness of the scheme's benefits, assistance in preparing DPRs, applications to banks, and facilitating approvals by district-level monitoring committees under district magistrates, and regular State-level reviews with banks have made this initiative a success throughout the state, according to the report.
Individual applications are tracked and monitored in real time via a project monitoring portal. Land, environmental, and fire clearances are processed rapidly through a single-window facility.
