Centre disburses Rs 746 cr from Agri Infra Fund so far, maximum to projects in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: The Centre has disbursed Rs 746 crore so far from the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, a debt financing facility, for 1,186 projects with maximum outlay going to those in Madhya Pradesh, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Out of total funds disbursed, maximum of Rs 427 crore was given to 759 projects coming up in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Rs 84.4 crore to 145 projects in Rajasthan, Rs 66.4 crore to 84 projects in Maharashtra and Rs 62.2 crore to 62 projects in Gujarat, it said.

This data was placed before the Rajya Sabha as part of a written reply by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

As per the data, the Agriculture Ministry has sanctioned a total of Rs 4,389 crore from the Agri-Infra Fund for 6,403 projects to come up across the country so far.

Out of which, a maximum fund of Rs 1,446.7 crore has been sanctioned for 1,318 projects in Andhra Pradesh. However, the ministry has disbursed only Rs 7.5 crore for 11 projects to this southern state.

In case of Tamil Nadu, the ministry has disbursed Rs 3.2 crore for 12 projects, against the sanctioned amount of Rs 313.9 crore for 208 projects so far.

For Karnataka, Rs 8.4 crore has been disbursed for 12 projects, against the sanctioned amount of Rs 295.6 crore for 812 projects.

In case of Kerala, Rs 1.4 crore has been disbursed for 2 projects, against the sanctioned amount of Rs 145.9 crore for 75 projects.

A similar pattern of disbursement was made for projects to be implemented in other states.

However in case of Madhya Pradesh, the ministry has disbursed Rs 427 crore for 759 projects, against the sanctioned amount of Rs 957.3 crore for 1,237 projects to the state, the data showed.

The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee.

The duration of the scheme is 10 years till FY'2029. Under the scheme, Rs 1 lakh crore is provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum and credit guarantee coverage up to Rs 2 crore.

Eligible beneficiaries include farmers, Farmer producer organisations (FPOs), Primary Agricultural Cooperatives, Marketing Cooperative Societies, Self Help Groups, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, start-ups, and central/state agency or local body-sponsored public-private partnership projects.

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source https://www.freepressjournal.in/bhopal/centre-disburses-rs-746-cr-from-agri-infra-fund-so-far-maximum-to-projects-in-madhya-pradesh