Punjab has been awarded the best performing state under the Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme for the year 2023-24. The award was presented by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chauhan during the AIF Excellence Award Ceremony organized by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India at the National Agricultural Science Complex, New Delhi. Horticulture Minister Chetan Singh Jodamajra congratulated the officials of the department and the entire AIF team for this important achievement and appreciated the efforts to take the scheme to new heights.
On this achievement, Cabinet Minister Chetan Singh Jodamajra said that only 164 projects were sanctioned in the financial year 2021-22. He said with the strategic planning of the horticulture department (which functions as the state nodal agency for AIF) and the introduction of a dedicated project monitoring unit (PMU), this figure will touch a new high next year and sanction 3,480 projects by the state financial year 2022-23. . It nearly quadrupled to 12,064 during FY 2023-24. He said the total number of projects approved by August 2024 has reached 16,680.
A huge investment of 6,626 crores
With the aim of further strengthening the agricultural infrastructure, under these projects Rs. A huge investment of 6,626 crores was made. Out of this, the participating banks contributed a total of Rs. 3,941 crore in term loans, indicating a strong financial commitment to improve the agricultural sector across Punjab. Major categories of projects set up under this scheme in Punjab include custom hiring centres, primary processing centres, sorting units, cold storage, post harvest management infrastructure, solar panels and solar pumps on existing infrastructure.
More than 70 percent of the beneficiaries are farmers
Led by Horticulture Minister Chetan Singh Jodamajra and K.A.P. Sinha, Special Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab, has been actively moving forward in Punjab with strategic support for this scheme. In Punjab, more than 70 percent of the beneficiaries of this scheme are farmers. The Cabinet Minister said that this achievement marks a unique progress towards the implementation of the scheme in the agriculture sector, highlighting Punjab’s leading role in delivering the benefits of the scheme to the farming community.
Director Horticulture Shalindar Kaur informed that Pradhan Mantri Kusum Component-A and Integrated Primary-Secondary Process Project are now eligible activities under the expanded AIF scheme. He informed that the beneficiaries can now apply for projects like mushroom cultivation, setting up of polyhouses/greenhouses, vertical farming, hydroponic and aeroponic farming as well as logistics facilities.
He said that this expansion would provide more opportunities to the farmers and entrepreneurs of the state to adopt modern agricultural techniques and infrastructure. He hoped that the farmers of Punjab would continue to benefit from the AIF scheme as its current expansion is making the scheme more profitable.
