State will seek Rs 4,000 crore in next phase
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma today said Assam has been allocated Rs 2,050 crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF). He said that against this amount, loans worth Rs. 1,181 crore have already been sanctioned to 893 farmers, FPOs and agri-entrepreneurs. Of this, Rs. 736 crore has already been disbursed.
The chief minister attended a state-level AIF workshop here. The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a flagship Government of India scheme that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched on August 9, 2020, under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, providing interest-subsidised loans for post-harvest management and community farming assets. Under the scheme, eligible individuals and institutions can avail loans of up to Rs. 2 crore per project with a 3% annual interest subvention for up to seven years, along with collateral-free credit guarantee support.
Addressing the gathering, the chief minister said that the scheme was launched with the objective of promoting value addition to agricultural produce and creating modern agricultural infrastructure. He said the initiative encourages farmers not only to produce crops but also to process, store and market them through facilities such as warehouses, cold storages, custom hiring centres, drones, sensors, pumps, hydroponics, aeroponics, polyhouses, milling units and oil extraction units.
Explaining the financial benefits of the scheme, Dr Sarma said that the government provides a 3% interest subvention on loans up to Rs 2 crore, and the lending rate is capped at 9%. While beneficiaries are ordinarily required to contribute 10% of the project cost under the scheme, he announced that the Assam government would bear 5% of the beneficiary’s contribution. In the case of farmer-producer organisations, the state government will bear the entire 10% beneficiary share.
The chief minister stated that Assam can still avail itself of nearly Rs 900 crore from its existing allocation. He further said that the Government of India has approved an additional Rs. 1 lakh crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund nationwide and expressed confidence that Assam would strive to secure an allocation of Rs. 4,000 crore in the next phase, up from around Rs. 2,000 crore earlier.