Motivate farmers to use financing facility, banks told

Hamirpur, December 27

Banks have been advised to encourage farmers to take benefits under the National Agriculture Infrastructure Financing Facility (NAIFF). This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Dr Pankaj Rai, while addressing bankers during a meeting of the district financing and coordinating committee in Bilaspur today.

He said the Centre had sanctioned Rs 965 crore to the state for 2022-23 under the NAIFF scheme. He said all loans under the facility would have interest subvention of three per cent per annum up to a limit of Rs 2 crore. He said the subvention would be available for a maximum period of seven years.

Pertinently, the financing facility by the Centre will be provided for funding agriculture infrastructure projects to primary agricultural cooperative societies, farmer producer organisations, agriculture entrepreneurs, start-ups etc.

The DC said only 16 farmers had applied under the scheme in the district and four cases were approved, while rest of them were pending. He said farmers could apply for various types of infrastructure under the scheme, including machinery for farming, establishing agro-based nurseries, construction of cold storages and post-harvest processing units etc.