Special Fund of Rs. 2,000 Crore has been Created in Nabard for Providing Affordable Credit to Entrepreneurs

Recognising the importance of easy access of credit, in the budget of 2014-15, a special fund of Rs. 2,000 crore has been created in National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for providing affordable credit to entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing units in designated Food Parks.

Loan is extended by NABARD from the Fund to various categories of promoters in food processing sector, such as Individual entrepreneurs, State Governments, State Government Agencies, cooperatives, Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs), corporate, companies etc.

As per Scheme guidelines the loan can be availed for setting up of individual food processing units and also modernization of existing units in the designated food parks etc.

The loan is repayable within a maximum period of 7 years, including the initial gestation of a maximum of 2 years. The operational guidelines of NABARD Scheme are available on website of the NABARD – www.nabard.org.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Smt. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here today.

***

SS(fund)24-02-2015