TO THE STUDY ON BASIC NABARD

Aim
NABARD - National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development. The Government of India
encourages farmers in taking up projects in select areas by subsidizing a portion of the total
project cost. All these projects aim at enhancing capital investment, sustained income flow and
employment areas of national importaim.

INTRODUCTION
NABARD was established on the recommendations of B. Sivaramman Committee (by Act 61,
1981 of Parliament) on 12 July 1982 to implement the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development Act 1981. It replaced the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural
Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and Agricultural Refinance and
Development Corporation (ARDC). It is one of the premier agencies providing Rs.14080 crore
(100% share). The authorized share capital is Rs.30, 000 crore.
International associates of NABARD include World Bank-affiliated organisations and global
developmental agencies working in the field of agriculture and rural development. These
organisations help NABARD by advising and giving monetary aid for the upliftment of the
people in the rural areas and optimizing the agricultural process.
NABFOUNDATION has been set up by NABARD as a section 8 company where the chairman
of NABARD is the chairman of NABFOUNDATION too. 
ROLE

NABARD Regional Office, Lucknow

NABARD has been instrumental in grounding rural, social innovations and social enterprises in
the rural hinterlands. As of May 2020, NABARD operates at 32 Regional Offices in the country.
[10]
 It has in the process partnered with about 4000 partner organisations in grounding many of
the interventions be it, SHG-Bank Linkage programme, tree-based tribal communities’
livelihoods initiative, watershed approach in soil and water conservation, increasing crop
productivity initiatives through lead crop initiative or dissemination of information flow to
agrarian communities through Farmer clubs. Despite all this, it pays huge taxes too, to the
exchequer – figuring in the top 50 tax payers consistently. NABARD virtually ploughs back all
the profits for development spending, in their unending search for solutions and answers. Thus
the organisation had developed a huge amount of trust capital in its 3 decades of work with rural
communities.
1.NABARD is the most important institution in the country which looks after the development of
the cottage industry, small scale industry and village industry, and other rural industries.
2.NABARD also reaches out to allied economies and supports and promotes integrated
development.
3.NABARD discharge its duty by undertaking the following roles:

1. Serves as an apex financing agency for the institutions providing investment and
production credit for promoting the various developmental activities in rural areas
2. Takes measures towards institution building for improving absorptive capacity of the
credit delivery system, including monitoring, formulation of rehabilitation schemes,
restructuring of credit institutions, training of personnel, etc.
3. Co-ordinates the rural financing activities of all institutions engaged in developmental
work at the field level and maintains liaison with Government of India, state
governments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other national level institutions
concerned with policy formulation
4. Undertakes monitoring and evaluation of projects refinanced by it.
5. NABARD refinances the financial institutions which finances the rural sector.
6. NABARD partakes in development of institutions which help the rural economy.
7. NABARD also keeps a check on its client institutes.
8. It regulates the institutions which provide financial help to the rural economy.
9. It provides training facilities to the institutions working in the field of rural upliftment.
10.It regulates and supervise the cooperative banks and the RRB's, throughout entire India.
NABARD has its head office at Mumbai, India and regional offices in all states and one special
cell at Srinagar J&K. The Regional Office[RO] is headed by a Chief General Manager [CGMs]
as Officer Incharge, and the Head office has several top executives viz the Directors, Deputy
Managing Directors[DMD], and the Chairperson. The Board of Directors are appointed by the
Government of India in consonance with NABARD Act. It has 336 District Offices across the
country which are staffed by District Development Managers (DDMs). It also has six training
establishments.
NABARD is also known for its 'SHG Bank Linkage Programme' which encourages India's banks
to lend to self-help groups (SHGs). Largely because SHGs are composed mainly of poor women,
this has evolved into an important Indian tool for microfinance. By March 2006, 22 lakh SHGs
representing 3.3 crore members had to be linked to credit through this programme.[12]
NABARD also has a portfolio of Natural Resource Management Programmes involving diverse
fields like Watershed Development, Tribal Development and Farm Innovation through dedicated
funds set up for the purpose.
Bank Regulation.
NABARD supervises State Cooperative Banks (StCBs), District Cooperative Central
Banks (DCCBs), and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and conducts statutory inspections of these
banks.[13]
Refinancing
NABARD's refinance fund from World Bank and Asian Development Bank to state co-operative
agriculture and rural development banks (SCARDBs), state co-operative banks (SCBs), regional
rural banks (RRBs), commercial banks (CBs) and other financial institutions approved by RBI.
While the ultimate beneficiaries of investment credit can be individuals, partnership concerns,
companies, State-owned corporations or co-operative societies, production credit is generally
given to individuals.
Rural innovation

NABARD role in rural development in India is phenomenal. National Bank For Agriculture &
Rural Development (NABARD) is set up as an apex Development Bank by the Government of
India with a mandate for facilitating credit flow for promotion and development of agriculture,
cottage and village industries. The credit flow to agriculture activities sanctioned by NABARD
reached Rs 1,57,480 crore in 2005–2006. The overall GDP is estimated to grow at 8.4 per cent.
The Indian economy as a whole is poised for higher growth in the coming years. Role of
NABARD in overall development of India in general and rural & agricultural in specific is
highly pivotal.
Through assistance of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, NABARD set up the
Rural Innovation Fund. Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) is another noted scheme
for the bank for rural development.  Under the RIDF scheme Rs. 51,283 crore have been
sanctioned for 2,44,651 projects covering irrigation, rural roads and bridges, health and
education, soil conservation, water schemes etc. Rural Innovation Fund is a fund designed to
support innovative, risk friendly, unconventional experiments in these sectors that would have
the potential to promote livelihood opportunities and employment in rural areas. [18] The
assistance is extended to Individuals, NGOs, Cooperatives, Self Help Group, and Panchayati Raj
Institutions who have the expertise and willingness to implement innovative ideas for improving
the quality of life in rural areas. Through member base of 25 crore, 600000 cooperatives are
working in India at grass root level in almost every sector of economy. There are linkages
between SHG and other type institutes with that of cooperatives.
The purpose of RIDF is to promote innovation in rural & agricultural sector through viable
means. Effectiveness of the program depends upon many factors, but the type of organisation to
which the assistance is extended is crucial one in generating, executing ideas in optimum
commercial way. Cooperative is member driven formal organisation for socio-economic
purpose, while SHG is informal one. NGO have more of social color while that of PRI is
political one. Does the legal status of an institute influences effectiveness of the program? How
& to what an extent? Cooperative type of organisation is better (Financial efficiency &
effectiveness) in functioning (agriculture & rural sector) compared to NGO, SHG & PRIs.
Recently in 2007–08, NABARD has started a new direct lending facility under 'Umbrella
Programme for Natural Resource Management' (UPNRM). Under this facility financial support
for natural resource management activities can be provided as a loan at reasonable rate of
interest. Already 35 projects have been sanctioned involving loan amount of about Rs 1000
crore. The sanctioned projects include honey collection by tribals in Maharashtra, tussar value
chain by a women's producer company ('MASUTA'), eco-tourism in Karnataka etc.

IMPORTANCE
NABARD provides by way of refinance, loans and advances repayable on demand or on the
expiry of fixed period not exceeding 12 months, to Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks
for production, marketing and procurement activities.

NABARD has been given many responsibilities related to the formulation of policies, planning,
and operations in agriculture and financial development. NABARD carries these responsibilities
efficiently and works towards promoting and developing man industries in the rural areas like the
agriculture industry, cottage industries, other small scale industries, and rural crafts in an effort
to create better infrastructure and better employment oppor.

OBJECTIVE

The NABARD scheme aims to provide funds for India's rural infrastructure to enable long term
irrigation practices. Generally offering financial services and aid for the development and
improvement of rural India. Planning, implementing and managing any funding programs for
farming and agricultural activities.

The main objects of NABARD are as follows:

1. NABARD provides refinance assistance for agriculture, promoting rural development
activities. It also provides all necessary finance and assistance to small scale industries.

3. NABARD in coordination with the State Governments, provides agriculture.

4. It improves small and minor irrigation by way of promoting agricultural activities.

5. It undertakes R&D in agriculture, rural industries.

6. NABARD promotes various organizations involved in agricultural production by contributing

to their capital.

Thus, the objects of NABARD can be brought under three major heads:

 Credit function.
 Development function.
 Promotional function.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI), constituted a committee (Shivaraman

committee) to review the arrangements for institutional credit for
agriculture and rural development (CRAFICARD) on 30 March 1979,
under the Chairmanship of Shri B.Sivaraman, former member of
Planning Commission, Government of India to review the arrangements
for institutional credit for agriculture and rural development. NABARD
was established with an initial capital of 100 cr., on 12 July 1982 by a
special act of parliament 1981, by transferring the agricultural credit
functions of RBI and refinance functions of the then Agricultural
Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC). NABARD replaced the Agricultural Credit
Department (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and
Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC)

NABARD’s activities are governed by a Board of Directors. The Board of Directors are
appointed by the Government of India in harmony with NABARD Act 1981. It has its
headquarters in Mumbai. Government of India holds 99% stake and RBI holds 1% (initially
72.5%) stake in NABARD.

More than 50% of the rural credit is disbursed by the Co-operative Banks and Regional Rural
Banks. NABARD is responsible for regulating and supervising the functions of Co-operative
banks and RRBs. NABARD works towards providing a strong and efficient rural credit delivery
system, capable of taking care of the expanding and diverse credit needs of agriculture and rural
development.

Refinance

NABARD disbursed ?1,30,964 crore and ?92,786 crore for supporting ST and LT financing by
banks, respectively, during the year 2020-21.
NABARD provides by way of refinance, loans and advances repayable on demand or on the
expiry of fixed period not exceeding 12 months, to Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks
for production, marketing and procurement activities. The basic objective of short-term refinance
provision is to supplement the resources of banks and to improve credit flow at the ground level.
NABARD provides long-term and medium-term refinance to the various institutions to
supplement their resources for providing adequate credit for supporting investment activities of
farmers and rural artisans, etc

.
Short Term Loans

Crop loans are extended to farmers for crop production by financial institutions, which support in
ensuring food security in the country. During the year 2020-21, NABARD has disbursed ?95,731
crore for Seasonal Agricultural Operations and ?11,733 crore for other than seasonal agriculture
operations to Cooperative Banks and RRBs.
NABARD also introduced a new window of assistance to SFBs and under this facility Short
Term Refinance of ?49 crore was extended to North East SFB.

Long Term Loans

NABARD's long-term refinance provides credit to financial institutions for a wide gamut of
activities encompassing farm and non-farm activities with tenor of 18 months to more than 5
years. During the year 2020-21, NABARD has disbursed ?92,786 crore to financial institutions.
To address to the issue of rural migration and give boost to agriculture & rural sector post Covid
period, NABARD introduced 4 special refinance schemes viz. Scheme for PACS as MSC,
Scheme for beneficiaries of the watershed as well as Wadi project areas, Scheme for Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Scheme for Micro Food Processing activities.
Government of India has set up LTRCF with NABARD for providing long term refinance
support for investment credit in agriculture activities exclusively for Cooperative Banks (State
Cooperative Banks and State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks) and
Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). During the year 2020-21, an amount of ?14881 crore was
disbursed unde

Special Liquidity Facility

NABARD, has disbursed ?16800 crore to Cooperative Banks, ?6700 crore to RRBs and ?2000
crore to NBFC-MFIs to ensure unhindered flow of credit to farmers to carry out harvesting and
production activities during lockdown due to which India outperformed in Agriculture
production even during lockdown.
NABARD provided additional SLF of? 1567 crore to NBFC-MFIs with asset size less than?500
crore. SLF was also extended to eligible SCARDBs taking into account the liquidity crunch
faced by them in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. As on 31 March 2021? 908.16 crore has been
disbursed to SCARDBs in 5 States under this line of credit.

Rural Infrastructure Development Fund

RIDF was set up with NABARD in 1995-96 by the Reserve Bank of India out of the shortfall in
lending to priority sector by scheduled commercial banks for supporting rural infrastructure
projects. NABARD disbursed ?29193 crore during 2020-21 under RIDF which contributes
substantially to the rural infrastructure funding in the country today.

Long-Term Irrigation Fund

The Long-Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) was announced in the Union Budget 2016–17 for fast
tracking 99 identified medium and major irrigation projects, spread across 18 states in mission
mode by December 2019. Subsequently, Government of India approved funding for four more
projects under LTIF viz; Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh, North Koel project in Bihar and
Jharkhand, Relining of Sirhind and Rajasthan Feeder Canal project of Punjab, and Shahpur
Kandi Dam in Punjab. Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) is the nodal Ministry designated to
coordinate and facilitate completion of the projects. During the year 2019-20, GoI approved the
funding arrangement under LTIF beyond December 2019 and up to 31 March 2021 or till the
continuation of the scheme is approved, whichever is earlier. During 2020-21, an amount of ?
2461.84 crore and ?7761.20 crore was sanctioned and disbursed respectively. Cumulative loans
sanctioned and released under LTIF as on 31st March 2021 stands at ?84326.60 crores and ?
52479.71 crores respectively.
The GoI has further extended the release of funds under the scheme upto 30 September 2021.

Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana - Grameen (PMAY-G)

NABARD sanctioned an amount of? 20,000 crores and released ?19999.80 crores during 2020-
21 to the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA) under PMAY-G. The
cumulative amount sanctioned to NRIDA as on 31 March 2021 was? 61975 crore out of which ?
48819.03 crore was released. The financial assistance was channelized towards PMAY-G, which
plans to provide a pucca house, with basic amenities, to all houseless households including those
living in kutcha and dilapidated houses, by 2022
.
Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF)

MIF with a corpus of? 5000 crore was operationalized in NABARD during 2019-20. The
objective of the fund is to facilitate State Govts. in mobilizing additional resources for expanding
 coverage under micro irrigation and incentivizing its adoption beyond provisions of PMKSY-
PDMC. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India is the
Nodal Ministry. During 2020-21, NABARD sanctioned and released loan amount of ?1128.60
crore and ?1827.47 crore respectively under MIF. The cumulative sanctions and releases as on
31st March 2021 stands at? 3970.17 crores and ?1827.47 crores, respectively.

 country. It is the apex banking institution to provide finance for Agriculture NABARD is a
development bank focussing primarily on the rural sector of the and rural development.
o Its headquarter is located in Mumbai, the country’s financial capital.
 It is responsible for the development of the small industries, cottage industries, and any
other such village or rural projects.
 It is a statutory body established in 1982 under Parliamentary act-National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981.
NABARD SPONCER SCHEMS

FARM SECTOR

Producers Organisation Development Fund (PODF)

NABARD has taken an initiative for supporting producer organizations (POs), adopting a flexible
approach to meet the needs of producers. In order to give a special focus, “Producers Organization
Development Fund” (PODF) has been set up w.e.f. 01 April 2011, with an initial corpus of Rs. 50 crore.
Any registered PO viz. Producers Company (as defined under Sec. 581 A in part IXA of Company’s Act,
1956), Producers Cooperatives, registered Farmer Federations, MACS (Mutually Aided Cooperative
Society), industrial cooperative societies, other registered federations, PACS, etc. set up by producers are
eligible from the Fund.
Support under PODF is provided as under:
 Loan-linked grant support is available to the FPOs for promotion, capacity building & market
interventions.
 Grant assistance to eligible agencies for organizing / conducting workshops, meetings, round table
meetings, special studies, IT-based interventions, etc. is also available without linking to availing
institutional loan.

Watershed Development Programme
The Union Finance Minister, in his budget speech for 1999-2000, had announced the creation of a
Watershed Development Fund (WDF) in National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) with broad objectives of unification of multiplicity of watershed development programmes
into a single national initiative through involvement of village level institutions and Project Facilitating
Agencies (PFAs).
In pursuance thereof, WDF has been created in NABARD with a contribution of Rs. 100 crore each by
Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India (GoI) and NABARD.
Tribal Development Programmme
NABARD has been closely associated with tribal development and sustainable livelihoods through
orchard based farming systems. As an integral component of NABARD’s Natural Resource Management
(NRM) policy of providing sustainable livelihoods, NABARD laid special emphasis on providing support
for holistic development of tribal communities with orchard establishment as the core elements .
 The Government of India encourages farmers in taking up projects in select areas by subsidizing
a portion of the total project cost.  All these projects aim at enhancing capital investment,
sustained income flow and employment areas of national importance. 
NABARD has been a proud channel partner of the Government in some of these schemes shown
in this section. Subsidy as and when received from the concerned Ministry is passed onto the
financing banks.
 
 New Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) sub scheme of ISAM
 Agri Clinics and Agri Business Centres Scheme (ACABC)
 National Livestock Mission - Entrepreneurship Development & Employment Generation (NLM-
EDEG)
 Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS)
 Commercial production units of organic inputs - National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF)
 GSS – Ensuring End Use of Subsidy Released
 Interest Subvention Scheme
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Gol vide their letter dated 5 November 20l8 have
issued the operational guidelines for the new Agri cultu ral M arketing Infrastructure (AMI) sub-
scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural marketing (ISAM). The scheme will be
implemented by the Departmentof Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers' Welfare, and Gol
through the Directorate of Marketing & Inspection (DMI). 2. The erstwhile Grameen Bhandaran
Yoj ana (GBY) implemented since ol.o4.2ool and Scheme for Development/ Strengthening of
AMI, Grading & Standardisation (AMIGS) implemented since 2o.1o.2oo4 were subsumed into
AMI sub-scheme of ISAM since ol.o4.2ol4. The AMI scheme was for XII Plan (2ol2-17) and the
scheme was discontinued.

The new scheme has been approved for implementation from 22 October 2ol8 for the period
conterminous with the 14th Finance Commission i.e. up to 31 March 2o2o. Accordingly, the
revised guidelines for the sub-scheme AMI will be effective for new credit linked projects for
which term loan is sanctioned by the Fls on after 22 October 2ol8 to 31.o3.2o2o.- The
operational guidelines for the new scheme are enclosed.

The sub-scheme AMI lays special focus on developing and upgrading of Gramin Haats as
GrAMs through strengthening of infrastructure. These Grams may function as farmer-consumer
market (retail market) and collection/ aggregation points (spokes) with linkages to
secondarymarket (hub) with participation of FPOs and other eligible promoters. Enhancement of
farmers' income is central to the scheme. . The AMI scheme envisages back-ended capital
subsidy for credit linked investment in eligible sto rag in arketing infrastructure projects. The
eligible subsidy is 25% or 33.33% of the capital cost depending upon the area and category of
beneficiary.

NABARD will rel e as e subsidy under the scheme to all.the institutions which are eligible for
NABARD refinance and to such other institutions Gol may approve for the purpose. It may be
noted that time limits have been prescribed in the guidelines for each stage from submission ' of
documents by FI to release of final subsidy. On receipt of subsidy by FI, the Utilization
Certificate should be submitted by the FI within 6o days of receipt of final subsidy.

NABARD will also provide refinance to Commercial Banks, RRBs, StcBs, SCARDBs,
Scheduled Urban Cooperative Banks , Scheduled Primary Cooperative Banks (PCBs), North
Eastern Development Financial Corporation (NEDFi), etc., as per the extant policy. The rate of
interest on refinance will be as decided by NABARD from time to timeted as per existing
procedure. :rrowBe:nksonmaythe8u;degenetrha: requirements of the scheme as also on the
contents of Amnexure X to the operational guidelines (which is also to be attached to the
sanction letter). 3. submission of application details, and release of subsidy LJ claims. The same
is expected to be operational within 6o days. The instructions for operating the software will be
communicated in due course. In the interim, applications may be submitted in physical form to
the Regional _ Processlng r- Offices of NABARD as per the formats prescribed in the new
guidelines. Once the software is rolledouttherelevantdatawillhave to be entered in the system.
Digitization of the scheme processes will not only streamline the system but also infuse
transparency in. 1o. The operational guidelines of the scheme are also available on our
websiteatw we request you to circulate the operational guidelines among branch.

WE ARE We are India’s apex development bank that came into existence in 1982. We are fully owned by
the Government of India. Our mandate is to promote sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural
development through participative financial and non-financial interventions, innovations, technology and
institutional development for securing integrated development and prosperity of rural areas. Our journey
of nearly four decades has seen us emerge as an institute of pre-eminence in the rural development arena
in India. We have defined a clear and purposeful role for ourselves to serve various facets of nation
building.

With its Head Office located in Mumbai, NABARD’s outreach extends to every State of India, with 31
Regional Offices and through 414 District Development Managers. The Bank has three training
establishments at Kolkata, Lucknow and Mangalore serving the needs of both, NABARD staff as well as
staff of other banks, NGOs and Government officials.

Map not to scale. All locations are approximate

A NATIONWIDE OUTREACH

NABARD STRUCTURE

414 District Development Managers

Head Office

31 Regional Offices

3 Training Establishments

Head Office

Regional Office

*Punjab and Haryana have their Regional Offices in Chandigarh while Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh have their Regional Offices in Hyderabad.
Our major functions include providing refinance support, financing rural infrastructure, credit
planning through preparation of State Focus Paper and district level Potential Linked Credit
Plans, guiding the banking industry in planning and achieving credit targets, strengthening the
rural credit structure, supervising rural Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs),
helping them develop sound banking practices, implementing GoI’s development schemes,
training and providing marketing support to rural artisans, undertaking microfinance initiatives,
research and development and capacity building of stakeholders.

FUNCTIONS OF NABARD

Short-Term Loans (Production Credit) Farmers need credit to undertake seasonal agricultural
operations. This is called production credit, or crop loan. Such crop loans are extended to farmers by
financial institutions. NABARD supplements the resources of these institutions and channelizes credit in
line with the policy initiatives of Govt. of India. During the year 2020-21, NABARD has sanctioned
short-term credit limits of ₹ 54,372.72 crore for Seasonal Agricultural Operations to financial institutions.
REFINANCE

Total Long Term Refinance purveyed by NABARD since inception ( ₹ in crore)

Capital formation in agriculture is of critical importance for the sustainability of agricultural

growth. NABARD lays special emphasis on investment credit as it leads to capital formation
through asset creation and development of rural areas. Under this facility, during the year 2020-
21, refinance of ₹ 92,786 crore has been extended to financial institutions, which included
concessional finance of ₹ 14,881.49 crore to Cooperative Banks and RRBs. Refinance for Long-
Term Loans (Investment Credit)

KCC Saturation Drive Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GoI launched a campaign
to cover PM Kisan Samman Scheme beneficiaries who do not possess Kisan Credit Cards. A
vigorous awareness drive was launched with Cooperative Banks and RRBs for issue of KCCs for
eligible farmer under phase II, 2.5 crore farmers are to be covered to facilitate credit to the farm
sector. A similar special drive to provide KCC to 1.5 crore dairy farmers belonging to milk
unions and milk producing companies and 1 crore fishermen has also been launched.

Long Term Refinance Scheme for PACS Commencing from the year 2020-2021, this will
develop all the potential Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) into Multi Service
Centres (MSCs) over a period of three years. Concessional refinance to State Cooperative Banks
(StCBs) at 3% to support PACS will be provided. During 2020-21, 3055 PACS were given in-
principle sanction with estimated project cost of ₹ 1,760.82 crore. Responding to the Covid
Crisis – Special Schemes

Long Term Refinance Scheme for Watershed and Wadi Beneficiaries The objective is to
promote sustainable economic activities, livelihood and employment opportunities for the
beneficiaries in NABARD-supported watershed and wadi project areas by encouraging banks to
Long Term Refinance Scheme for Micro Food Processing Activities This will encourage banks
to lend to micro food processing activities and create sustainable livelihood and employment
opportunities for rural youth as well as Covid affected reverse migrants. The scheme also
envisages modernising and enhancing the competitiveness of the existing individual micro
enterprises to ensure their transition to formal sector in rural areas.

Refinance for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) The goal is to provide access to clean
water and sanitation for all. NABARD decided to extend concessional refinance support to all
eligible banks and FIs to enable them to deepen institutional credit to beneficiaries in WASH
related activities.

Direct Lending to Cooperative Banks This is an additional short term line of credit to StCBs and District
Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) for diversification of their loan portfolio and enhancing their
earnings through profitable lending. The credit limit is sanctioned to financially strong and DCCBs for
purposes such as working capital, repair and maintenance of farm equipment and other productive assets,
storage/grading/packaging of produce, marketing activities, and crop loans above ₹ 3.00 lakhs, etc.
Sanctions and disbursements stood at ₹ 11,890 crore and ₹ 7,373.49 crore respectively during FY 2020-
21. Credit Facility to Marketing Federations (CFF) Under CFF, short term credit support is provided to
state government entities like agricultural marketing federations, civil supplies corporations, dairy
cooperatives, milk unions or federations etc., for procurement, processing and marketing of
agricultural commodities, input supply and value and supply chain management. In 2020-21,
CFF sanction stood at ₹ 40,160 crore while disbursements were ₹ 47,852.62 crore. Direct
Lending and Marketing Facility Credit.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Pilot scheme for Partial Credit Guarantee scheme for NBFCs/ NBFC-MFIs: The scheme has
been introduced to enable small NBFCs and NBFC-MFIs lending to agriculture, MSME and
microfinance sectors to raise funds from debt and capital market. To be undertaken as a pilot
product, this will help in higher credit flow at the ground level.

Engaging with NBFCs– Third party pool analysis: The appraisal process of the NBFC
applications for refinance has been strengthened through third party pool analysis, resulting in
better market intelligence about NBFCs.

Short Term Refinance to Small Finance Banks (SFBs) have been included as eligible institutions
for refinance to better facilitate credit availability to farmers, MSE sectors, retail trade, small
businesses and other unorganized sectors, at affordable rate of interest.

Financing Rural Infrastructure

Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) RIDF was set up with NABARD in recognition
of its professional expertise in appraisal, funding and capacity for effective implementation of
rural infrastructure projects. The cumulative disbursements under the fund amounted to ₹
3,23,677 crore as on 31 March 2021 including ₹ 29,193 crore during 2020-21. RIDF has
contributed in the creation of irrigation potential of 349 lakh ha, rural road network of 4.90 lakh
kms, rural bridges of 12.31 lakh metres and non-recurring employment of 28.78 billion man-
days. NABARD Infrastructure Development Assistance (NIDA) NIDA is designed to fund the
State Govt./State owned institutions and entities in private sector for creation of rural
infrastructure. Assistance is project based and available at customised terms and conditions
including longer repayment period and moratorium. During 2020-21, 19 projects involving ₹
22,767.75 crore were sanctioned and disbursements made were ₹ 7,506.07 crore. Cumulative
sanction and disbursement since inception stood at ₹ 57,724.33 crore and ₹ 22,800.12 crore
respectively as on 31 March 2021.

11

Long-Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) LTIF has been created to fast track the completion of the 99
identified medium and major irrigation projects spread across 18 states. Under LTIF, NABARD
provides loan towards central share as well as State share in the project outlays with a tenor of 15
years. The cumulative loan sanctioned and released under LTIF at the end of March 2021 was ₹
84,326.60 crore and ₹ 52,479.71 crore respectively as shown below.

Particulars

During 2020-21 Cumulative Sanction Release Sanction Release

99 identified irrigation projects (Central share + State Share)

227.56 5318.03 71170.70 41652.70

Polavaram irrigation Project (Central Share) 2234.28 2234.20 10465.80 9898.35 North Koel
Reservoir Project (Central Share) 0.00 61.52 1378.61 721.22 Shahpurkandi project (Central
Share) 0.00 147.45 485.35 207.45 Sirhind & Rajasthan Feeder project (Central Share) 0.00 0.00
826.17 0.00 Total 2461.84 7761.20 84326.63 52479.72

PRADHAN MANTRI AWAS YOJANA - GRAMIN (PMAY-G) To achieve the goal of

“Housing for all by 2022”, GoI launched Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G)
which envisages construction of 2.95 crore houses by 2021-22. NABARD extends loans to
National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)
of GoI, towards part funding of central share under the scheme. As on 31 March 2021,
NABARD’s cumulative sanction and disbursement to NRIDA stood at ₹ 61,975 crore and ₹
48,819.03 crore respectively.
MICRO IRRIGATION FUND (MIF) Micro Irrigation Fund facilitates State Govt. efforts in
mobilizing additional resources for expanding coverage under micro irrigation. NABARD has
sanctioned ₹ 3,970.17 crore up to 31 March 2021 to seven States viz., Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
Tamil Nadu, Haryana, West Bengal, Punjab and Uttarakhand. Out of total area envisaged of
12.83 lakh ha., an area of 4.23 lakh ha. has already been covered up to 1 December 2020.
 NABARD’S DEVELOPMENT FUNCTIONS

Farm Sector Development

Watershed Development Programme (WDF)

The participatory approach of watershed development has been a universally acclaimed

programmed for augmentation of soil and water resources along with area development in rained
areas. New initiatives in this field include climate proofing intervention, spring shed in NER and
setting up of BHUVAN, a portal to track the progress. NABARD has so far sanctioned 3401
watershed development projects with a grant assistance of ₹ 2,389.47 crore in 27 states and
completed 1800 projects as on 31 March 2021.

Tribal Development Programme (TDF)

TDF was created to promote sustainable livelihoods for the tribal families and reduce their
distress migration. Under the Fund, grant based projects are sanctioned for setting up small
orchards (wadi) and allied activities. 835 projects covering 5.6 lakh tribal families have been
sanctioned as on 31 March 2021. Presently 408 Project Implementing Agencies (NGOs) are
associated in implementing the projects.

Farm Sector Promotion Fund (FSPF)

Under FSPF, grant support is extended for promotion of innovations in agriculture and allied
sectors, enhancing agricultural productivity, creating market access, adoption of climate resilient
agriculture, agricultural value chains and Farmers Clubs. During 2020-21, grant of ₹ 17.67 crore
was disbursed. MOUs with APEDA, ICAR and IIM, Bangalore have been executed for funding
of specific projects. Schemes for Promotion of FPOs NABARD has set up Producers
Organizations Development Fund (PODF), the broad objective of which is to provide grant
assistance to POs/PACS/PCARDBs to ensure sustainability and economic viability of Farmer
Producer Organisations (FPOs). During the year 2020-21, grant assistance of ₹ 4.05 crore was
utilised under PODF. A Producer Organization Development and Upliftment Corpus
(PRODUCE) was also created for the promotion of 2000 FPOs. Under this Fund, NABARD has
promoted 2154 FPOs. Besides, Go has launched the Central Sector Scheme for formation and
promotion of 10 thousand FPOs over the next five years beginning 2020-21 and NABARD is
one of the implementing agencies under the scheme.
Off-Farm Producer Organisations (OFPOs)

NABARD supports OFPOs for promoting value addition, product and design innovation,
product development, processing, brand-building, creation of storage and logistics infrastructure,
mechanization and development of technology in rural enterprises. As on 31 March 2021, 40
OFPOs covering around 14043 beneficiaries have been supported with grant assistance of ₹ 7.35
crore across 20 states.

Marketing Initiatives

Recognising that marketing is the key to success of rural enterprises, NABARD provides
support for exhibitions, melas, rural haats and marts. Exhibitions and melas provide a direct
marketing platform to the artisans enabling them to gain valuable market intelligence, knowledge
of customer preferences and obtain bulk orders. Organising virtual B2B exhibitions benefitted
artisans and weavers who were hit by Covid lockdown. Cumulatively, 1085 rural marts have
been supported as on 31 March 2021

Agri Business Incubation Centres

NABARD supports eligible institutions for setting up rural/ agri business incubation centres to
nurture early stage innovative enterprises that have high growth potential in agribusiness by
adding value and linking to producers and markets. As on date, NABARD has supported seven
rural/agri business incubation centres with total financial support of ₹ 63.29 crore.

Geographical Indications

Geographical Indication (GI) is an intellectual property right that identifies goods originating
from a specific geographical location and having distinct nature, quality and characteristics
linked to that location. NABARD provides support for pre-registration as well as post-
registration activities for GI products. NABARD has extended support for enabling GI
registration of 72 products including black pottery (Nizamabad), wall hangings (Ghazipur), soft
stone jali work (Varanasi), gulabi minakari (Banaras) and handmade dari (Mirzapur)
 Institutional Development Initiatives for Rural Cooperative Banks and RRBs

Strengthening and capacity building of rural cooperative credit institutions and Regional Rural
Banks (RRBs) is a major development function of NABARD. This includes policy, financial and
technical support. Through its Cooperative Development Fund (CDF), NABARD supplements
the efforts of the cooperative credit institutions to achieve capital adequacy and multi-functional
capability. As on 31 March 2021, cumulative amount of ₹ 229.49 crore has been disbursed.
Training under SOFTCOB, infrastructure assistance to PACS, PACS Development Cells and
grant support for developing PACS as MSCs are some of the major initiatives under CDF. As
regards amalgamation of RRBs, under the principle of ‘One State One RRB’ in smaller states
and reduction in number of RRBs in larger States, the number of RRBs in India has been brought
down to 43 as on 31 March 2021. This will result in higher technology adoption, quality human
resources and effective marketing of products in RRBs. During the year 2020-21, GoI has
released an amount of ₹ 200 crore to seven RRBs towards recapitalization. National
performance review meets of RCBs, RRBs and RRBs (NER) were also held during the year.
 SPECIAL FUNDS FOR SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

Warehouse Infrastructure Fund

Warehousing augments the scientific storage capacity in the country for food grains and
perishable food products. To channelize financial support to the players in this sector, GoI has
instituted WIF with NABARD. The assistance is for constructing godowns, silos, cold storage,
cold chain facility and marketing infrastructure in APMCs. As on 31 March 2021, the Fund has
supported construction of 7601 warehouses with an estimated scientific storage capacity of 12.70
million MT.
Food Processing Fund

To promote food processing industry on a cluster basis, GoI instituted FPF in NABARD for
providing affordable credit for setting up of food processing units in Food Parks designated by
the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI). As on 31 March 2021, 12 Mega Food Park
projects, 10 Agro Processing Clusters and 10 Food Processing Units have been sanctioned with a
loan commitment of ₹ 701.18 crore. These projects would create facilities which will include
1,96,000 MT of dry warehouses for storage of raw material and finished goods, 58,800 MT of
silos for bulk storage of agricultural raw material, 87,210 MT of cold storage capacity for
perishable products and 13,400 MT of subzero freezer capacity for finished products.

Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund

DIDF is a dedicated Fund set up in NABARD in 2017-18, with a total corpus of ₹ 8,004 crore
to be utilised over five years. The Fund aims at financing projects for modernisation and
infrastructure augmentation for milk processing and value addition, and to ensure optimum price
realisation. NDDB and NCDC seek loan assistance under this Fund for on-lending to cooperative
milk unions, state cooperative dairy federations, multi-state milk cooperatives, milk producer
companies and NDDB subsidiaries. Cumulative sanction as on 31 March 2021 stood at ₹
3,665.83 crore and disbursement was ₹ 1,230.70 crore.
Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund

NABARD is one of the Nodal Loaning Entities (NLE) of the Fisheries and Aquaculture
Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) created by Go for extending concessional financing to
eligible borrowers. NABARD will fund creation/ modernization of fisheriesbased infrastructure
such as fishing harbours, fish landing centres, State fish seed farms, fish markets, disease
diagnostic laboratories, aquatic quarantine facilities, training infrastructure etc. During the year
2020-21, an amount of ₹ 193.77 crore has been disbursed to the Government of Tamil Nadu in
respect of three fishing harbours.
Geo-tagging of Warehouses

NABARD has initiated the exercise for geo-tagging of agristorage infrastructure in the country.
This will enable NABARD to map and create database of the agri-storage assets and related
infrastructure in the country and facilitate developing a robust backbone of warehouse
infrastructure with matching logistic support. As on 31 March 2021, 101769 agristorage
infrastructure units (ASIs) have been mapped and geo-tagged.