New Delhi, Aug 28: In a significant move to enhance and strengthen the agricultural infrastructure in the country and support the farming community, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wednesday, announced a series of measures to expand the scope of the central sector Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme.

"To date, Rs 47,575 crore has been sanctioned for 74,508 projects under AIF," a Cabinet communique said.

"These sanctioned projects have mobilised an investment of Rs 78,596 crore in the agriculture sector, of which Rs 78,433 crore has been mobilised from private entities," it added.

The Centre has approved initiatives like viable farming assets, integrated processing projects, PM KUSUM Component-A, and NABSanrakshan -- aimed at expanding the scope of eligible projects and integrating additional supportive measures to foster a robust agricultural infrastructure ecosystem.

"The expansion in the scope of the AIF scheme is poised to further drive the growth, improve productivity, enhance farm incomes, and contribute to the overall sustainability of agriculture in the country," the Cabinet communique said.

"These measures also underscore the government's commitment to strengthening the agricultural sector through holistic development of farm infrastructure in the country," it noted. The viable farming assets allow all eligible beneficiaries of the scheme to create infrastructure covered under 'viable projects for building community farming assets'.

"This move is expected to facilitate the development of viable projects that will enhance community farming capabilities, thereby improving productivity and sustainability in the sector," the Cabinet said.

The measures include integrated primary secondary processing projects in the list of eligible activities under AIF. However standalone secondary projects would not be eligible and would be covered under schemes of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

The PM KUSUM Component-A allows convergence with AIF for farmers, farming organisations, cooperatives, or panchayats.

"The alignment of these initiatives aims to promote sustainable clean energy solutions alongside the development of agricultural infrastructure," the Cabinet said.

In addition to Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), it is proposed to extend AIF credit guarantee coverage of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) through the NABSanrakshan Trustee Company also.

"This expansion of credit guarantee options is intended to enhance the financial security and creditworthiness of FPOs, thereby encouraging more investments in agricultural infrastructure projects."

Launched by PM Modi in 2020, AIF has enabled the creation of 6,623 warehouses, 688 cold stores, and 21 silos projects, resulting in additional storage capacity of about 500 Lakh metric tonne (LMT) in the country. This includes 465 LMT of dry storage and 35 LMT of cold storage capacity. With this additional storage capacity, 18.6 LMT of food grains and 3.44 LMT of horticulture produce can be saved annually. Further, infrastructure projects sanctioned under AIF also helped in generating more than 8.19 lakh rural employment opportunities in the agriculture sector.

(IANS)

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