Lok Sabha Question No. 4957 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-23
Subject: Setting up of SFAC
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Hemant Tukaram Godse

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4957

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 23 RD  JULY, 2019

## SETTING UP OF SFAC

4957.    SHRI  HEMANT TUKARAM  GODSE:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  set  up    Small    Farmers'    Agri-Business  Consortium (SFAC)  in  various States of the country and if  so, the details thereof including  the  functions performed  by SFAC;
- (b) the details of the projects/schemes being implemented, funds sanctioned and physical achievements/progress  made  so far under the SFAC, State-wise;
- (c) whether  the SFAC has not been able to make much impact on the agriculture sector and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether    the    Government    has  reviewed  the  functioning  of  SFAC  to  make  it  more effective; and
- (e) if so, the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a): Yes Sir. The Government established Small Farmers' Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) as  a  Society  in  1994  to  facilitate  agri-business  ventures  by  catalyzing  private  investment through Venture  Capital Assistance  (VCA)  Scheme  in  close  association with financial institutions. SFAC has facilitated development of State level SFACs in 21 States by way of one time corpus support as matching contribution.  List of State level SFAC's is at Annexure-I .

The  main  functions  of  SFAC  are:  (i)  Promotion  of  development  of  small  agribusiness through  VCA  scheme;  (ii)  Helping  formation  and  growth  of  Farmer  Producer  Organizations (FPOs) / Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs); (iii) Improving availability of working capital and development of business activities of FPOs/FPCs through Equity Grant and Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme; (iv) Implementation of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)  Scheme.

- (b): At present, SFAC is implementing the following schemes:
- i. SFAC promotes development of small agribusiness through its Venture Capital Assistance (VCA) Scheme for value added processing and marketing linkages. The State-wise progress of VCA Scheme is at Annexure-II .

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- ii. SFAC offers Schemes like Equity Grant and Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme (EGCGFS) for FPCs to improve availability of working capital and development of business activities. The State-wise progress of EGCGFS is at Annexure-III .
- iii. SFAC  is  also  the  implementing  agency  for  the  National  Agriculture  Market  (e-NAM) Scheme.  The  objective  is  to  develop  transparent,  competitive  online  bidding  system  to facilitate farmers with remunerative prices. The Government has released an amount of Rs. 459.44 crore for development, operationalisation and maintenance of e-NAM scheme. The State-wise number of mandi integrated under e-NAM is at Annexure-IV .

So  far,  more  than  1.64  crore  farmers  &  more  than  1.24  Lakhs  traders  have  been registered on e-NAM platform.  Further trade transactions having total volume of 2,61 crore MT with total value of Rs.72,128 crore, have been recorded on e-NAM platform.

- iv.    SFAC  was  mandated  by  Department  of  Agriculture,  Cooperation  and  Farmers  Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and  Farmers  Welfare,  Govt. of India, to support the State Governments in the formation of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). FPO projects are taken up by State Governments under general Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana -Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sectors Rejuvenation  (RKVYRAFTAAR) funds as well as under the National Demonstration Project under the National Food  Security  Mission  (NFSM)  and  Mission  for  Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture (MIDH).

So far, SFAC has helped 818 FPOs in registering as companies.  State wise list of FPOs promoted by SFAC is  at Annexure -V

(c):            SFAC  has  emerged  as  a  developmental  Institution  with  its  core  aim  and  objective focused on increased production and productivity, value addition, provision of efficient linkages between producers and consumers.

SFAC commissioned an independent Mid-term appraisal of the VCA Scheme for XII Plan through NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS). NABCONS has found the Scheme to be highly effective and significant. The Scheme has resulted in strengthening the forward linkages for farmers, and in achieving efficiency and higher price realization for farmers in the agriculture value chain.

SFAC also commissioned an independent Evaluation Study of the EGCGFS for FPCs through NABCONS. NABCONS has found that the EGCGFS for FPCs has been useful to the FPCs in improving their business activities.

(d) & (e):    The Government has reviewed the functioning of SFAC from time to time. Based on the  review  the  annual  action  plans  are  formulated  and  associated  budgets  are  released.

## List of State Level SFACs

|   Sl. No. | State level SFACs   |
|-----------|---------------------|
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh   |
|         2 | Assam               |
|         3 | Bihar               |
|         4 | Gujarat             |
|         5 | Himachal Pradesh    |
|         6 | Jharkhand           |
|         7 | Kerala              |
|         8 | Karnataka           |
|         9 | Madhya Pradesh      |
|        10 | Maharashtra         |
|        11 | Manipur             |
|        12 | Meghalaya           |
|        13 | Mizoram             |
|        14 | Nagaland            |
|        15 | Punjab              |
|        16 | Rajasthan           |
|        17 | Sikkim              |
|        18 | Tamil Nadu          |
|        19 | Tripura             |
|        20 | Uttar Pradesh       |
|        21 | Uttarakhand         |

Annexure-II

## State-wise progress of Venture Capital Assistance (VCA) Scheme

| Sl. No.   | State             |   No. of sanctioned projects |   VCA (Rs. in lakhs) |
|-----------|-------------------|------------------------------|----------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    |                           41 |              1095.92 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |                            4 |               294.39 |
| 3         | Assam             |                           29 |              1338.52 |
| 4         | Bihar             |                            5 |               163.77 |
| 5         | Gujarat           |                          419 |             13598.7  |
| 6         | Goa               |                            1 |                54.33 |
| 7         | Haryana           |                          120 |              3787.89 |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh  |                           72 |              2428.19 |
| 9         | Jammu & Kashmir   |                           46 |              1821.05 |
| 10        | Karnataka         |                          217 |              5566.77 |
| 11        | Kerala            |                           46 |               852.34 |
| 12        | Madhya Pradesh    |                          154 |              3632.26 |
| 13        | Maharashtra       |                          474 |             12574.3  |
| 14        | Manipur           |                           11 |               203.21 |
| 15        | Meghalaya         |                            3 |                99.55 |
| 16        | Nagaland          |                            9 |               188.85 |
| 17        | Orissa            |                            4 |                58.59 |
| 18        | Punjab            |                          108 |              2302.48 |
| 19        | Rajasthan         |                          198 |              5595.18 |
| 20        | Tamil Nadu        |                           95 |              2793.23 |
| 21        | Uttar Pradesh     |                          323 |             10523    |
| 22        | Uttarakhand       |                           46 |              2192.19 |
| 23        | West Bengal       |                            9 |               321.12 |
| 24        | Mizoram           |                            1 |               155.43 |
| 25        | Chhattisgarh      |                          216 |              4551.69 |
| 26        | Tripura           |                            3 |               185.84 |
| 27        | Jharkhand         |                            3 |                84.28 |
| 28        | Telangana         |                           54 |              2011.72 |
|           | Total             |                         2711 |             78474.9  |

## State-wise progress of Equity Grant and Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme (EGCGFS)

| Sl. No   | State            |   No. of FPCs where Equity Grant Sanctioned |   Total Amount (Rs. in lakhs) |
|----------|------------------|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh   |                                          10 |                         44.07 |
| 2        | Bihar            |                                          12 |                         45.35 |
| 3        | Chhattisgarh     |                                           1 |                         10    |
| 4        | Gujarat          |                                           7 |                         50.52 |
| 5        | Haryana          |                                          11 |                         92.51 |
| 6        | Himachal Pradesh |                                           1 |                          2.84 |
| 7        | Karnataka        |                                          67 |                        624.29 |
| 8        | Kerala           |                                           2 |                         16.85 |
| 9        | Madhya Pradesh   |                                          53 |                        230.85 |
| 10       | Manipur          |                                           3 |                         23.16 |
| 11       | Maharashtra      |                                          84 |                        480.23 |
| 12       | Odisha           |                                           8 |                         62.66 |
| 13       | Rajasthan        |                                          10 |                         55.21 |
| 14       | Tamil Nadu       |                                          70 |                        515.2  |
| 15       | Telangana        |                                           5 |                         26.34 |
| 16       | Tripura          |                                           1 |                          8.44 |
| 17       | Uttar Pradesh    |                                          80 |                        410.15 |
| 18       | Uttarakhand      |                                           1 |                         10    |
| 19       | West Bengal      |                                          63 |                        307.47 |
|          | Total            |                                         489 |                       3016.14 |

Out of 489 cases, 18 FPCs have taken 2nd tranche of Grant.

## Annexure-IV

## State/Union Territory wise number of mandis integrated with National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)

| Sl. No.   | State/Union Territory   |   Number of Mandis Integrated with e-NAM |
|-----------|-------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andhra Pradesh          |                                       22 |
| 2.        | Chandigarh              |                                        1 |
| 3.        | Chhattisgarh            |                                       14 |
| 4.        | Gujarat                 |                                       79 |
| 5.        | Haryana                 |                                       54 |
| 6.        | Himachal Pradesh        |                                       19 |
| 7.        | Jharkhand               |                                       19 |
| 8.        | Madhya Pradesh          |                                       58 |
| 9.        | Maharashtra             |                                       60 |
| 10.       | Odisha                  |                                       10 |
| 11.       | Puducherry              |                                        2 |
| 12.       | Punjab                  |                                       19 |
| 13.       | Rajasthan               |                                       25 |
| 14.       | Tamil Nadu              |                                       23 |
| 15.       | Telangana               |                                       47 |
| 16.       | Uttar Pradesh           |                                      100 |
| 17.       | Uttarakhand             |                                       16 |
| 18.       | West Bengal             |                                       17 |
|           | Total                   |                                      585 |

Annexure-V

## State wise list of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) promoted by SFAC

| S. No.   | Name of the State   |   Number of FPOs promoted |
|----------|---------------------|---------------------------|
| 1)       | Andhra Pradesh      |                         7 |
| 2)       | Arunachal Pradesh   |                         2 |
| 3)       | Assam               |                        12 |
| 4)       | Bihar               |                        29 |
| 5)       | Chhattisgarh        |                        26 |
| 6)       | Delhi               |                         4 |
| 7)       | Goa                 |                         2 |
| 8)       | Gujarat             |                        20 |
| 9)       | Haryana             |                        23 |
| 10)      | Himachal Pradesh    |                         6 |
| 11)      | Jammu & Kashmir     |                         2 |
| 12)      | Jharkhand           |                        10 |
| 13)      | Karnataka           |                       119 |
| 14)      | Madhya Pradesh      |                       143 |
| 15)      | Maharashtra         |                        99 |
| 16)      | Manipur             |                         6 |
| 17)      | Meghalaya           |                         3 |
| 18)      | Mizoram             |                         1 |
| 19)      | Nagaland            |                         2 |
| 20)      | Odisha              |                        41 |
| 21)      | Punjab              |                         7 |
| 22)      | Rajasthan           |                        48 |
| 23)      | Sikkim              |                        30 |
| 24)      | Tamil Nadu          |                        11 |
| 25)      | Telangana           |                        20 |
| 26)      | Tripura             |                         4 |
| 27)      | Uttarakhand         |                         7 |
| 28)      | Uttar Pradesh       |                        51 |
| 29)      | West Bengal         |                        83 |
|          | Total               |                       818 |

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