Lok Sabha Question No. 376 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Implementation of AIF
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Sudhakar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 376

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 nd  July, 2025

## IMPLEMENTATION OF AIF

## 376.     SHRI SUDHAKAR SINGH:

Will  the  Minister  of  AGRICULTURE  AND  FARMERS  WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

(a) the total allocation of funds under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) to all  States and Union Territories since its inception, State/UT-wise and year-wise;

(b) the  details  of  key  criteria  and  rationale  adopted  by  the  Government  in determining  the  allocation  of funds  under  AIF  across  different  States  and  Union Territories;

(c) the number of agriculture infrastructure projects sanctioned and developed in  Bihar  under  the  AIF,  detailing  the  type  of  infrastructure  (e.g.,  cold  storage, warehousing, processing units,  irrigation  projects)  and their  respective  approved funding;

(d) the status of physical and financial progress of each of these infrastructure projects in Bihar as on date;

(e) whether the Government monitors and evaluates the impact of these funded infrastructure projects on farmers' income and productivity; and

(f) if so, the details of such evaluations and the outcomes thereof, particularly in Bihar, and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛमंũी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a) & (b): The  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund  is  a  medium-long  term  debt financing  facility  for  investment  in  viable  projects  for  post  harvest  management infrastructure  and  viable  farming  assets  through  interest  subvention  and  credit guarantee support. Under the scheme, Rs.1 Lakh Crore is provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee  coverage  under  CGTMSE  and  NABSanrakshan  for  loans  up  to  Rs.2 Crores.

At  the  inception  of  the  scheme,  a  tentative  State  wise  allocation  of financing  facility  was  made  on  the  basis  of  the  ratio  of  total  value  output  of Agriculture  and  Allied  sectors  of  States/UTs. The  details  of  the  allocation  is mentioned at Annexure-I.

(c) & (d): At the inception of scheme, a tentative allocation of Rs 3980 crore was made for the state of Bihar. As on 30th June 2025, Rs.1440.80 Crore have been sanctioned for 1763 projects. Out of this,  914.64 crore have been disbursed under AIF in Bihar state. The total project cost for these sanctioned projects is Rs.2419 crores. Project-wise details of Loans sanctioned and disbursed in the State of Bihar are given in Annexure-II.

(e) & (f): An impact assessment was conducted in December 2023 to evaluate the scheme's performance, gather beneficiary feedback, and suggest improvements.

The evaluation highlighted positive impact of the scheme in terms of increase in farmers' income, increase in agriculture storage capacity, growth of post harvest and  value  addition  infrastructure  for agriculture  produce, generation  of employment  and  encouraging  agriculture  entrepreneurship. Although  a  specific evaluation  exclusively  for  the  State  of  Bihar  was  not  undertaken,  the  study component included samples from Bihar among other States, and findings were analysed in a holistic manner. The outcomes of the study were generalised at the national level to  assess the  overall  impact  of  the  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund (AIF) Scheme across the country, including Bihar. The details of the outcome of the study are enumerated hereunder:

- i. 31% of the AIF units availed government subsidies also. Thus, they have been benefitted due to Convergence under AIF.
- ii. Around 85% of the total units, availability of AIF loan was the main reason for starting the unit.
- iii. On an average about 40% of the project cost of the AIF units was covered by AIF loan.
- iv. Around 70% of the units have taken loan for creating new infrastructure.
- v. The employment generated by AIF unit activities was relatively higher in peak seasons than in slack season. The average number of persons employed per unit in the peak season was found to be 11. The average was highest i.e. 27 in Rajasthan and lowest i.e. 5 in the state of Maharashtra.
- vi. Number of persons employed per unit was higher in case of agro processing units.
- vii. The total capacity created by sample AIF warehouse, cold storage units and silos is around 879 thousand MT. Also, these units have occupied total area of around 2900 thousand sq. feet.
- viii. Overall  responses  reveal  satisfactory  demand  for  products/services  of  AIF units and satisfactory income from these units.
- ix. Most  of  the  units  are  situated  in  the  rural  areas  indicating  proximity  to  the agriculture production regions and around 54% of the respondents believed that incomes of farmers have increased because of the AIF units and majority of them reported that the increase in incomes was very high and satisfactory.
- x. Around 54% of the respondents felt that overall, the farmers have benefitted due to the AIF facilities.

ANNEXURE-I Tentative Allocation of Funds to all States/UTs at the inception of Scheme ( Amount in Rs. Crore )

| Sr No   | State                | Tentative Allocation   |
|---------|----------------------|------------------------|
| 1.      | Uttar Pradesh        | 12831                  |
| 2.      | Rajasthan            | 9015                   |
| 3.      | Maharashtra          | 8460                   |
| 4.      | Madhya Pradesh       | 7440                   |
| 5.      | Gujarat              | 7282                   |
| 6.      | West Bengal          | 7260                   |
| 7.      | Andhra Pradesh       | 6540                   |
| 8.      | Tamil Nadu           | 5990                   |
| 9.      | Punjab               | 4713                   |
| 10.     | Karnataka            | 4525                   |
| 11.     | Bihar                | 3980                   |
| 12.     | Haryana              | 3900                   |
| 13.     | Telangana            | 3075                   |
| 14.     | Kerala               | 2520                   |
| 15.     | Odisha               | 2500                   |
| 16.     | Assam                | 2050                   |
| 17.     | Chhattisgarh         | 1990                   |
| 18.     | Jharkhand            | 1445                   |
| 19.     | Himachal Pradesh     | 925                    |
| 20.     | Jammu & Kashmir      | 900                    |
| 21.     | Ladakh               |                        |
| 22.     | Uttrakhand           | 785                    |
| 23.     | Tripura              | 360                    |
| 24.     | Arunachal Pradesh    | 290                    |
| 25.     | Nagaland             | 230                    |
| 26.     | Manipur              | 200                    |
| 27.     | Mizoram              | 196                    |
| 28.     | Meghalaya            | 190                    |
| 29.     | Goa                  | 110                    |
| 30.     | Delhi                | 102                    |
| 31.     | Sikkim               | 56                     |
| 32.     | Puducherry           | 48                     |
| 33.     | A&N Islands          | 40                     |
| 34.     | Daman & Diu          | 22                     |
| 35.     | Lakshadweep          | 11                     |
| 36.     | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 10                     |
| 37.     | Chandigarh           | 9                      |
|         | Total                | 1,00,000               |

## ANNEXURE-II

## Project-wise detail of Loans sanctioned and disbursed in the State of Bihar on 30 th  June 2025

## (Amount in Rs. Crore)

| S.N                                                | Project Type   |   Number of Projects |   Sanctioned Amount |   Disbursed Amount |
|----------------------------------------------------|----------------|----------------------|---------------------|--------------------|
| Warehouse                                          | 712            |               663.2  |              404.53 |               1    |
| Processing Units                                   | 334            |               380.68 |              247.31 |               2    |
| Cold Stores and Cold Chain                         | 40             |               162    |               99.01 |               3    |
| Sorting & Grading Unit                             | 22             |                29.81 |               25.81 |               4    |
| Silos                                              | 4              |                26.34 |               13.84 |               5    |
| Custom Hiring Centre                               | 154            |                20.12 |               19    |               6    |
| Organic inputs production                          | 4              |                15.71 |                0.61 |               7    |
| Assaying units                                     | 5              |                 4.62 |                0.47 |               8    |
| Logistics Facility                                 | 4              |                 2.81 |                2.56 |               9    |
| Bio stimulant production units                     | 2              |                 8.5  |                2.5  |              10    |
| Ripening Chambers                                  | 4              |                 2.24 |                0.92 |              11    |
| Infrastructure for smart and precision agriculture | 8              |                 1.09 |                1    |              12    |
| Packaging units                                    | 8              |                 0.63 |                0.53 |              13    |
| Supply chain infrastructure for clusters of crops  | 1              |                 0.4  |                0    |              14    |
| Composite Project                                  | 2              |                 0.31 |                0.31 |              15    |
| Others                                             | 459            |               122.34 |               96.26 |              16    |
| Grand Total                                        |                |              1763    |             1440.8  |             914.64 |

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