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Amid farm protest, Tomar holds talk with Lieutenant Governors over agri schemes
The move to collaborate closely with provincial authorities on policies in the farm sector, which supports half the Indian population, comes amid the ongoing farm protests in states, especially in states such as Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday held a virtual conference with all Lieutenant Governors (LGs) of Union Territories to discuss a raft of federal farm schemes, especially the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, a long-term-debt financing scheme aimed at boosting private infrastructure investment in the food and farm economy.
Similar exercises would likely be held with state governments, an official familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The move to collaborate closely with provincial authorities on policies in the farm sector, which supports half the Indian population, comes amid the ongoing farm protests in states, especially in states such as Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Major farm unions have opposed the three agricultural laws enacted in September last year to liberalise farm trade.
“The objective of the meeting was to understand the views of the L-Gs on the ground situation regarding schemes like the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and its uptake,” a second official said. Uptake refers to the utilisation of funds.
The participants included J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Island Admiral DK Joshi. These two top administrators also gave presentations on the implementation of various schemes.
An official statement said “modifications and (the) current status of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund were explained”. A presentation by the agriculture ministry stated “investment opportunities of around ₹1,700 crore and employment generation opportunities of more than 20,000 in 7 UTs under activities like dry storage, pack house, cold storage, ripening chamber, reefer vehicles, smart and precision farming etc.” were being done under the fund.
The fund, which figured in the ₹20-lakh crore first stimulus package to deal with the Covid crisis, aims to offer medium-to-long term debt financing for investment in farm projects.
It will provide loans on easy terms totalling ₹1 lakh crore over four years, starting with a sanction of ₹10,000 crore for 2020-21 and ₹30,000 crore each for the next three financial years.
Borrowers get an interest subvention, where part of the interest is paid by the government, of 3% per annum up to a loan limit of ₹2 crore for a period of seven years.
