Nabard would give states just shy of twenty thousand crore rupees for the development of agriculture and other important activities under a scheme christened ‘rural infrastructure development fund’’ (RIDF).
This is the lion’s share of the entire amount allocated in the budget for the current fiscal. Chairman of the Nabard H K Bhanwala shared this information recently with sections of the press.
The RIDF launched in the 90s with a small amount of money has since grown into a major source of fund for development Under the scheme , so far nearly a thousand projects have been sanctioned for modernization of infrastructural facilities in rural India claimed Mr. Bhanwala.
RIDF mainly offers low cost fund support to state governments and their Corporations for fast completion of projects related to medium and minor irrigation, soil conservation, watershed management and other forms of rural infrastructure.
Recently the Nabard had reduced the refinance rate by 0.20 per cent for state cooperative banks, regional rural banks and primary urban cooperative banks. However, for state cooperative agriculture and rural development banks (SCRDBs), a 0.10 per cent reduction is allowed for a single drawal of Rs 200 crore and more.