Odisha sign MoU with Nabkisan for collateral free loan by FPOs

Odisha government Tuesday signed an MoU with Nabkisan Ltd, a subsidiary of NABARD, for access to collateral free loan facilities by Farmers' Producer Organisations (FPOs) from financial institutions, officials said here.

The MoU encompasses creation of a Rs 10 crore Credit Guarantee Fund by Odisha government which will be administered by Nabkisan and pave the way for providing collateral free loans by the state's financial institutions to the FPOs.

As per the MoU, loans given by Public Sector Banks and Nabkisan to the FPOs will be guaranteed under the Credit Guarantee Fund, officials said.

It is a fallout of the State FPO Policy, 2018, launched by the state government in coordination with NABARD.

This is also as a sequel to an earlier MoU executed between NABARD and Department of Agriculture for promotion and nurturing of FPOs with a view to address the problems of small and marginal farmers of the state who constitute nearly 92 per cent of the farming community in the state, officials said.

The MoU was signed by Bijay Ketan Upadhyay, Director, Directorate of Horticulture, and Neeraj Verma, CEO, Nabkisan Ltd., Mumbai, in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.