Agriculture Infrastructure Funds in India

Farmers are the backbone of our society, providing us the food supply that we need to live healthy. They work tirelessly to ensure that the food supply is consistent and timely. In spite of being important to the society, very few banks and credit institutions in India offer loan facilities to them. Hence, to financially support farmers, the government of India has launched the Agriculture Infrastructure Funds scheme.

Using the scheme, the farmers can get a higher value for their produce, reduce wastage and increase processing and value addition. Moreover, farmers can also avail loan up to 2 crore at subsidized rates. Read on to know all about Agriculture Infrastructure Funds in India.

Agriculture Infrastructure Funds scheme in India is a financing facility that offers beneficiaries loan up to Rs. 1 lakh crores. The focus of the scheme is to offer a long term debt financing facility for community farming assets, agri-entrepreneurs and post-harvest management infrastructure through credit guarantees. Finance up to Rs. 1 lakh crore is provided as credit to borrowers at an interest rate of 3%. For loans up to Rs. 2 crore, beneficiaries receive credit guarantee coverage under the CGTMSE scheme. The scheme provides support to agri-entrepreneurs, farmer producer organizations, and primary agricultural credit society.

• Given below are the objectives of the Agriculture Infrastructure Funds scheme

• To provide long term debt finance facility for projects involved in community farming assets and post-harvest management infrastructure

• Providing funds to support requirements such as e-marketing points linked to e-trading platforms, cold storage and chain settings, warehouse maintenance, fund PPP projects for crop aggregation

• To be eligible to receive coverage under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund scheme in India, the below eligibility criteria must be fulfilled

• The eligibility of the borrower is decided based on the discussions of the lending institution with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

• Applicants must belong to categories like marketing cooperative society, PACS, agri-entrepreneurs, farmers, FPOs, PPP projects, etc.

• To be eligible for financing, financial institutions such as Non-banking financial companies, scheduled cooperative banks, commercial banks, National co-operative development corporations should sign a memorandum of understanding with NABARD

To enroll for the scheme, below documents are required to be submitted

• Past 3 years balance sheet
• Last 1 years bank statement
• Article of Association
• Bank’s loan application form
• Certificate of registration of firm
• Certificate of registration with district industries center for MSMEs
• Detailed project report
• Electricity bill or latest property tax report
• GST certificate
• Identity and address proof
• KYC papers
• Land ownership records
• Local authority permission
• Net worth statement of promoters
• Proof of company registration
• Repayment track record of existing loan
• ROC search report of the company

Individuals who qualify in the below mentioned categories are eligible to apply for Agriculture Infrastructure Funds scheme

• Agri-entrepreneurs
• Joint liability groups
• Farmers
• Central, state agency or local body sponsored public-private partnership projects
• Primary agricultural credit society
• Self-help groups
• Start-ups
• Farmer producer organizations

Follow the below steps for registration of Agriculture Infrastructure Funds scheme in India

• Visit the official website of the National Agriculture Infra Financing Facility
• In the beneficiary tab, click on the registration link
• Fill the online registration form with the required details such as name, mobile number, Aadhar number, etc
• Click on ‘Send OTP’ and enter verification PIN. You will then be able to access the Agriculture Infrastructure Form from the DPR tab after registration is completed
• The applicant then has to select the preferred scheme and enter email ID or beneficiary ID and password to proceed with the application process
• Fill in project details, cost, land status, loan details, etc.
• Upload the filled form and click on submit to complete the application process

Agriculture Infrastructure Funds in India offers you the below benefits

Benefits for FPOs, Farmers, PACS and marketing cooperative societies

• Farmers get an opportunity to boost their income
• Aids in providing marketing infrastructure to farmers, leading to better sales and consumer base
• Farmers have the power to decide where to operate and sell in the market
• Cold storage and modern packaging systems can be put to use

Benefits for start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs

• AIF offers better opportunity for collaboration between farmers and entrepreneurs
• Entrepreneurs can bring about innovation in the agriculture sector by adopting new technologies including AI and IOT

Benefits in terms of financial aid

• For private entrepreneurs, the National Monitoring Committee will decide on the interest rate and loan amount
• The AIF coverage fee will be paid by the government
• Moratorium of repayment will range from 6 months- 2years
• Eligible borrowers will receive credit guarantee coverage under credit guarantee fund trust for small and micro enterprises for loan up to Rs. 2 crore
• Credit disbursal will happen in four years with 10,000 crores disbursal followed by Rs. 30,000 crores each in next three fiscal years