The Central Government has taken a big initiative to ensure ease of getting loans to the farmers after harvesting. Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi has launched a loan guarantee scheme of Rs 1,000 crore. The objective of this scheme is to remove the reluctance of banks to give loans to farmers against Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWR) registered by Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA).
Launching the scheme, Minister Pralhad Joshi said, we have set up a fund of Rs 1,000 crore to encourage banks to give post-harvest loans. This will simplify farmers’ access to credit and provide them with more financial assistance.
Current status of post-harvest loan
Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said that at present a major part of agricultural loan goes for crop production, while the loan for post-harvest operations is only Rs 40,000 crore. He said the loan under e-NWR is limited to only Rs 4,000 crore. But a target has been set to increase it to Rs 5.5 lakh crore in the next 10 years.
He stressed that this goal is possible only through coordinated efforts of the banking and warehousing sectors. The Secretary stressed the need to increase awareness about guaranteed financing among farmers, streamline the e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi online platform, review depository charges and increase the number of warehouse registrations from 5,800.
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Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs B.L. Verma, Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhania and WDRA Chairperson Anita Praveen were also present. With this scheme, farmers will get convenience in getting loan after keeping their crops in storage. This will not only improve their financial condition but will also strengthen the rural economy.