Nabard earmarks Rs 1,000 crore for lending to cold chains

Says want to give a fillip to the much required cold storages

Government-run farm lender Nabard today said it has set up a Rs 1,000-crore corpus for lending to cold chains which will ensure creation of the necessary infrastructure for the agriculture and allied sectors.

Players in the public, private and cooperative sectors besides farmer producers organisations (FPOs) can avail of the direct credit window at competitive interest rates, it said.

"We want to give a fillip to the much required cold storages with this specific earmarking of Rs 1,000 crore to begin with," National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) Chairman Harsh Bhanwala said.

The facility has been created out of the Rs 5,000-crore warehouse infrastructure fund created through a budgetary announcement, Nabard said in a statement.

Horticulture, dairy, meat and meat products, fish and fish produce and other agriculture goods players stand to benefit from this arrangement, the statement said.

Nabard held a meeting with sector participants, policymakers and other stakeholders for operationalisation of the facility, it added.