Lok Sabha Question No. 325 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-04
Subject: Agriculture Infrastructure Fund
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dr. T Sumathy Alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 325

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04 TH  FEBRUARY, 2025

## AGRICULTURE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND

## 325.     DR. T SUMATHY ALIAS THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN:

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

(a)  the  details  of  the  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund  established  during  the  COVID-19 pandemic along with the details of loans disbursed under this scheme from 2020-21 till date, State-wise including Tamil Nadu;

(b) the details of the loan disbursed to various stakeholders such as individual farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) and Self Help Groups (SHGs);

(c)  the  details  of  grants-in-aid  provided  under  the  scheme  to  Scheduled  Castes  (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), women entrepreneurs and other weaker sections of society, Statewise and district-wise including Tamil Nadu;

(d) whether the Government is planning to conduct any study on the impact of this scheme on agricultural productivity and farmers' income; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a) & (b): In order to enhance the income of farmers, it is not only essential to enhance production and productivity of farm produce but also minimize the post-harvest losses and ensure better realization of  prices  for  farmers  through  creation  of  modern  post-harvest management infrastructure. With an objective to address the existing gaps in post-harvest management infrastructure in the country, the flagship scheme of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) was launched in 2020-21 to strengthen the infrastructure in the country through creation of farm gate storage and logistics infrastructure to enable farmers to store and preserve  their  farm  produce  properly  and  sell  them  in  the  market  at  better  price  with reduced post-harvest losses and lesser number of intermediaries. Improved post-harvest management  infrastructure  like  warehouses,  Cold  stores,  sorting  and  grading  units, ripening chambers etc will allow farmers to sell directly to a larger base of consumers and hence, increase value realization for the farmers. This will improve the overall income of farmers. Further, AIF scheme aims to benefit all stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem by contributing in the holistic development of the Agriculture sector. Under AIF, provision for Rs. 1 Lakh crore loan has been made through lending institutions with the a interest rate cap of  9% on loans. The scheme is operational from 2020-21 to 2032-33.

All loans under this financing facility have interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a loan limit of ₹2 crores. This interest subvention is available for a maximum period of 7 years. In case  of  loans  beyond  ₹2  crores,  interest  subvention  is  limited  up  to  ₹2  crores.  Credit guarantee coverage is also available for eligible borrowers from this financing facility under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for a loan up to ₹2 crores. The fee for this coverage is borne by the Government.

Eligible  beneficiaries  under  scheme  include  Farmers,  Agri-entrepreneurs,  Start-ups, Primary Agricultural Credit  Societies  (PACS),  Marketing  Cooperative  Societies,  Farmer Producers  Organizations(FPOs),  Self  Help  Group  (SHG),  Joint  Liability  Groups  (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Central/State agency or  Local Body sponsored Public Private  Partnership  Projects,  State  Agencies,  Agricultural  Produce  Market  Committees (APMC),  National  &  State  Federations  of  Cooperatives,  Federations  of  FPOs  and Federations of Self Help Groups (SHGs).

Eligible projects under AIF includes post-harvest management projects and viable  farming assets such as warehouses, silos, pack houses, assaying units, sorting & grading units, cold storage, cold chains, logistics facilities, primary processing centres, Integrated primary and secondary processing centres, ripening chambers, supply chain services including emarketing platforms, organic inputs production, Bio stimulant production units, Infrastructure for smart and precision agriculture, Farm/Harvest Automation, custom hiring centre, Purchase of drones, Setting up of standalone solar pump and grid connected  Agri pumps under PM-KUSUM component A, B & C, putting up specialized sensors on field, block chain and AI in agriculture, remote sensing and Internet of Things (IOT) such as automatic  weather  station,  farm  advisory  services  through  GIS  applications,  integrated spirulina  production  and  processing  unit,  sericulture  processing  unit,  honey Processing unit,  plant  quarantine  unit,  hydroponic  farming  ,mushroom  farming  ,  vertical  farming, aeroponic farming, poly house/ greenhouse etc.

The Union Cabinet has approved an expansion of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF). Key  measures  include allowing viable community  farming assets for all eligible beneficiaries, including secondary processing projects integrated with primary processing in  eligible  activities,  and  converging  AIF  with  PM-KUSUM  Component-A.  Additionally, NABSanrakshan is also included in scheme to extend credit guarantee support to FPOs.

As on 26.1.2025, Rs. 56334 Crore have been sanctioned for 92393 projects under AIF, out of this total sanctioned amount, ₹41996 crores is covered under scheme benefits. These sanctioned  projects  have  mobilized  an  investment  of  Rs.91856  crores  in  agriculture sector. Major projects sanctioned under AIF include 24,477 custom hiring centres, 19,030 primary processing units, 14,727 warehouses, 3,430 sorting & grading units, 2,190 cold store projects, around 8,539 other kinds of post-harvest management projects and viable farming  assets.  The  State-wise  and  Beneficiary  type-wise  disbursement  details  as  on 26.01.2025 are given in Annexure.

- (c): The AIF Scheme does not provide grants-in-aid to borrowers. However, it facilitates affordable loans from lending institutions with a 3% interest subvention and reimbursement of the guarantee fee, aiming to extend ₹1 lakh crore in loans by 2025-26. Loan sanctions are  granted  on  a  first-come,  first-served  basis,  including  Scheduled  Castes  (SCs), Scheduled  Tribes  (STs),  or  women  beneficiaries.  However,  as  per  norms  a  separate provision is there in Budget for the scheme for interest subvention and reimbursement of the guarantee fee for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs). As of January 26, 2025, ₹1,411 crores have been sanctioned for 4,738 projects under the SC & ST category, while ₹12,268 crores have been approved for 19,417 women beneficiaries. During AIF meetings  and  workshops,  PMUs,  bankers  and  lending  institutions  are  consistently encouraged  to  onboard  reserved  category  beneficiaries.  Further  utilization  of  fund  still remains open and accessible to all eligible beneficiaries including schedule castes and schedule tribe category.
- (d) & (e): An  impact  assessment  study  of  AIF  was  conducted  by  Agro  Economic Research Centre, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune in December 2023 to evaluate overall performance  of the scheme,  primarily based  on feedback from beneficiaries as well as farmers in selected states.    The major findings are as below
1. Based on this study, investment in the agri sector under AIF has generated more than 9 lakh employment opportunities. Out of the sanctioned projects, nearly 97% of the projects created are in rural areas promoting investment and employment opportunities in rural areas.
2. 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.
3. Further, the storage infrastructure created under AIF has added nearly 550 LMT of storage capacity which includes approx. 510.6 LMT of dry storage and nearly 39.4 LMT of Cold storage capacities (as on 26.01.2025). This additional storage capacity can save up to 20.4 LMT of food grains and 3.9 LMT of horticulture produce annually.
4. The Agro processing centres created under the scheme is promoting timely valueaddition  of  farmer's  produce  resulting  in  increase  in  farmer's  income  up  to  20%  and reduction  of  post-harvest  losses.  Custom  hiring  centres  set  up  under  the  scheme  is boosting farm mechanization and adoption of better crop residue management practices.
5. 31 percent of the AIF units have availed of government subsidies also. Thus they have been benefitted due to Convergence under AIF.
6. For around 85 percent of the total units, availability of AIF loan was the main reason for starting the unit.

## The State-wise and Beneficiary type-wise disbursement details as on 26.01.2025

## 1.  State-wise Disbursement of AIF Loans as on 26.01.2025

| State                                        |   Disbursed No. |   Disbursed Amt. (₹ Cr) |
|----------------------------------------------|-----------------|-------------------------|
| MADHYA PRADESH                               |           10893 |                  6245.1 |
| MAHARASHTRA                                  |            8642 |                  4171.4 |
| PUNJAB                                       |           19342 |                  3982.1 |
| UTTAR PRADESH                                |            6711 |                  3384.7 |
| KARNATAKA                                    |            3322 |                  2551.5 |
| GUJARAT                                      |            3007 |                  2114.8 |
| HARYANA                                      |            4470 |                  2024.5 |
| TELANGANA                                    |            2289 |                  1965.4 |
| RAJASTHAN                                    |            2656 |                  1926.1 |
| TAMIL NADU                                   |            6625 |                  1449.1 |
| WEST BENGAL                                  |            4091 |                  1399.1 |
| CHHATTISGARH                                 |            1529 |                  1201.8 |
| ANDHRA PRADESH                               |            1620 |                  1013.9 |
| ODISHA                                       |            2047 |                   923.9 |
| KERALA                                       |            2334 |                   639.7 |
| BIHAR                                        |            1008 |                   613.1 |
| ASSAM                                        |             442 |                   489.7 |
| UTTARAKHAND                                  |             380 |                   272.6 |
| JHARKHAND                                    |             291 |                   226.1 |
| JAMMU AND KASHMIR                            |             112 |                   140.7 |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH                             |             509 |                   121.4 |
| DELHI                                        |              10 |                    10.1 |
| MEGHALAYA                                    |               2 |                     6.9 |
| TRIPURA                                      |               4 |                     6.7 |
| GOA                                          |              18 |                     5.7 |
| CHANDIGARH                                   |               4 |                     4.7 |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH                            |               5 |                     3.9 |
| NAGALAND                                     |               2 |                     3.5 |
| PUDUCHERRY                                   |               3 |                     2.1 |
| THE DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN AND DIU |               1 |                     1   |
| MANIPUR                                      |               2 |                     0.5 |
| Grand Total                                  |           82371 |                 36901.7 |

## 2.  Disbursements Beneficiary type-wise as on 26.01.2025

| Beneficiary Type                             |   Disbursed No. |   Disbursed Amt. (₹ Cr) |
|----------------------------------------------|-----------------|-------------------------|
| Agri-Entrepreneur                            |           35347 |                 26421.7 |
| Farmer                                       |           36333 |                  7657.4 |
| Primary Agricultural Credit Society          |            7699 |                  1094.3 |
| Startup                                      |            1732 |                  1166.8 |
| Farmer Producers Organization                |             938 |                   392.9 |
| Multipurpose Cooperative Society             |             131 |                    66   |
| State Agencies                               |               6 |                     8   |
| Self Help Group                              |             149 |                    37   |
| Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) |              20 |                    40   |
| Marketing Cooperative Society                |              14 |                    14.5 |
| Public-Private Partnership Project           |               2 |                     3   |
| Total                                        |           82371 |                 36901.7 |

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