The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) has launched a new campaign for banks called BHARAT (Banks Heralding Accelerated Rural & Agriculture Transformation) under Agri Infra Fund. A press release was issued on this launch on 12th July, 2023.
This month-long campaign aimed at raising funds of Rs 7200 crore for agricultural infrastructure projects was launched via a video conference attended by over 100 banking executives. The event saw the participation of managing directors, chairmen, and executive directors from commercial banks in the public and private sectors, regional rural banks, small finance banks, NBFCs, and select cooperative banks.
During the conference the Joint Secretary (AIF), addressed the gathering of bank executives and ministry officials, highlighting the significant progress made since the inception of this ambitious flagship scheme. In his welcome address, he commended the banks for their active involvement and support in promoting the scheme, which has resulted in the creation of more than 31,850 agricultural infrastructure projects across the country. These projects were made possible with a loan amount of ₹24,750 crore under the Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF), which has an outlay of ₹42,000 crore.
Expressing satisfaction at the support received from the MoA&FW and the Project Monitoring Unit of AIF, the participating bank executives presented various suggestions to further enhance and expand the AIF scheme. The Secretary of MoA&FW congratulated the top-performing banks in different categories, including State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Madhya Pradesh Gramin Bank, Madhyanchal Gramin Bank, and Punjab Gramin Bank, for their commendable efforts in contributing to the success of the scheme.
The Secretary urged all banks to strive towards achieving their targets, considering the immense potential for agricultural infrastructure projects in the country. Furthermore, the banks were advised to conduct a thorough assessment of the impact of the projects created under the scheme at the ground level.
