New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs. 1 lakh crores Agriculture Infrastructure fund to support community farming assests across the country on Sunday. This would enhance India’s ability to compete globally in the Agri sector.

This fund is putting into motion decisions aimed at helping farmers get better price for their produce at farmgates. The farm infrastructure will enable farmers to get higher value for their producers as they will be able to store and sell at better prices as per market conditions, reduce wastage and increase processing and value addition. Prime Minister Modi also released Rs. 17K crore to nearly 8.5 crore farmers under the sixth installment of the PM Kisan Scheme.

The cash benefit was transferred directly into Aadhar verified bank accounts with the press of a button. With this transfer, the scheme has so far provided over ten crore farmers since its launch February last year. Modi speaking through video conference said that the country has huge opportunity to invest in post harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain and food processing and to build a global presence in areas such as organic & fortified foods. He said the scheme would provide a good opportunity for starters in agriculture to avail benefits and scale up their operations, thereby creating an eco system that would benefit farmers and create new jobs in every corner of the country.

The fund, announced as part of Centre’s economic stimulus package in May is a medium long term debt financing facilities for investment in viable projects for post harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee. Under this ten years scheme Rs. 1 lakh crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage for loans upto Rs. two crore.