Financial facility under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund 

Financial facility under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II and III – Govt schemes and initiatives; Agriculture; Infrastructure 

Context:  

• PM Modi launched a new Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore. 

Key pointers: 

• The first sanction of over Rs. 1000 Crore was made to over 2,280 farmer societies. 
• The scheme will support farmers, Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS), Farmer Producer Organisation (FPOs), Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. to build community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure. 
• It will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce. 
• They will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition. 

Important Value Additions 

About Agriculture Infrastructure Fund: 

• The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium – long term debt financing facility. 
• It is a facility for investment for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee. 
• The duration of the scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). 
• Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans. 
• The loans will have an interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for loans up to Rs. 2 Crore. 

Target Beneficiaries: 

• 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. 

About PM-KISAN: 

• The scheme was launched in December 2018 to provide income support by way of a cash benefit to all landholding farmers (subject to certain exclusion criteria). 
• The cash incentive was aimed to enable them to fulfil their agricultural requirements and support their families. 
• Under the scheme, the financial benefit of Rs.6000/- per year is provided to eligible beneficiary farmers in three equal instalments. 
• The amount is directly transferred into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode. 
• As of July 2019, ₹17,000 crore released to about 8.5 crore farmers under PM-­KISAN plan.