The State government has invited investment proposals for developing infrastructure assets, including post-harvest facilities, in the farm sector under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
Silos, cold chain networks, and processing units can be set up under the programme. These assets would help to reduce post-harvest losses in the sector to a considerable extent, the Agriculture department said on Saturday.
The loan period is 13 years. Interest subvention of 3% is available for loans up to ₹2 crore. The government is also offering credit guarantee for loans up to ₹2 crore. Convergence with Central and State government schemes is another feature of the initiative.
Loans will be available from multiple lending institutions including commercial banks, cooperative banks, regional rural banks, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), non-banking financial companies, and the Kerala Bank. Applications can be filed on agriinfra.dac.gov.in.
Farmers, farmer groups, farmer producer companies, joint liability groups, agri-entrepreneurships, and cooperatives (marketing cooperative society, multipurpose cooperative society, national federation of cooperatives, primary agricultural credit society) are eligible to apply.
An advantage of the scheme, according to the department, is that with investments in logistics infrastructure, farmers will be able to sell in the market with reduced post-harvest losses and a smaller number of intermediaries. This will make them more independent and improve their access to the market.
