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 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.

Budgetary support is being provided for interest subvention and credit guarantee fee as also administrative cost of PMU. This will be amount to Rs. 10,636 crores over a period of 10 years. The detailed break up is as below.

 

 State/UT wise details of Projects approved under AIF scheme during the last three years is as below: -

  (Amount in Rs Crore)

Sl.	State / UT	Sanctioned No	Sanctioned Amount
1	Madhya Pradesh	7,701	5,853
2	Maharashtra	6,860	4,151
3	Rajasthan	1,802	2,310
4	Gujarat	2,072	2,215
5	Uttar Pradesh	3,854	3,636
6	Haryana	2,704	2,108
7	Punjab	12,003	3,116
8	Telangana	1,662	2,178
9	Karnataka	2,208	2,148
10	Andhra Pradesh	680	1,116
11	West Bengal	2,537	1,441
12	Tamil Nadu	5,889	1,189
13	Chhattisgarh	814	1,008
14	Odisha	1,098	810
15	Assam	409	726
16	Bihar	848	680
17	Kerala	1,600	604
18	Uttarakhand	236	315
19	Jharkhand	225	255
20	Himachal Pradesh	347	137
21	Jammu And Kashmir	88	198
22	Delhi	7	10
23	Goa	19	10
24	Meghalaya	2	8
25	Chandigarh	2	8
26	Arunachal Pradesh	5	6
27	Tripura	5	10
28	Nagaland	0	0
29	The Dadra And Nagar Haveli And Daman And Diu	1	1
30	Puducherry	2	2
31	Manipur	3	1
32	Mizoram	0	0
33	Sikkim	0	0
34	Ladakh	0	0
35	Lakshadweep	0	0
36	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	0	0
	Total	55,683	36,250

 

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 main findings of the study are as below. 

1.       Based on this study, till 26th January 2025, 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 value-addition 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.

 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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MG/KSR/1313

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