Nabard Refinance For Enviro-Protection

National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (Nabard) has finalised a proposal to extend refinance facilities to banks for financing pollution control devices and equipments and also for common pollution control measures in agriculture and rural industrial projects.

The refinance facility will be available to all scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks, state cooperative banks and state cooperative agricultural and rural development banks

Nabard is extending this facility as part of its drive to reappraise agricultural and rural industrial projects from the environmental perspective. According to a recent Nabard circular, one way of ensuring greater focus on pollution control and issues related to it, is to treat pollution control devices and measures as part of the project outlays for agricultural and rural industrial projects. Accordingly, Nabard has decided to extend refinance support to banks against their investment credit for financing pollution control devices and measures as an integral part of project outlays for approved purposes, under both farm and non-farm sectors.

 

It has also decided to provide refinance support for installation of common pollution control devices such as Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CEPTs), waste recycling, waste minimisation processes and the like for approved agricultural and non-agricultural purposes.

The agencies eligible for aid for common pollution control measures would be individual or groups, associations of persons, partnership firms, cooperative societies, public limited companies, industrial houses, public sector organisations, promotional bodies, other corporate bodies, voluntary agencies and NGOs

The bank has also specified that refinance would only be provided for such projects where satisfactory arrangements for operation, maintenance, management of the projects and the recovery of capital have been made.