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.
