Infrastructure, innovation in agriculture will strengthen the backbone of Indian economy: Anurag Thakur

NEW DELHI: Minister of state (MoS) for finance Anurag Thakur on Friday said that ensuring infrastructure and innovation in agriculture and boosting the liquidity in the hands of farmers will strengthen the backbone of the Indian economy.
Announcing the third tranche of government's Rs 20 lakh crore 'self-reliant India' campaign along with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Thakur said that the measures announced for the agricultural sector will is bound to benefit our farmers and further propel the economy.
He further said that the Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund announced by the government will finance projects at farm-gate and aggregation point for efficient post-harvest management of crops.
Stating that the interest subvention scheme will benefit about 2 crore farmers, he said: “The new scheme to provide interest subvention @2% per annum to dairy cooperatives for FY20-21 and an additional 2% per annum interest subvention on prompt payment/interest servicing will unlock Rs 5,000 crore additional liquidity."
“In order to promote the vision of Hon’ble PM of ‘Vocal for Local with Global outreach’, Rs 10,000 crore scheme for formalization of Micro Food Enterprises (MFE) is of extreme significance. This scheme will be launched to help 2 lakh MFEs in attaining FSSAI food standards, building their brand whilst marketing the same for greater benefit,” he added.
The MoS finance also emphasied on government's Rs 15,000 crore fund for strengthening animal husbandry infrastructure development and said that it will contribute towards value addition and cattle feed infrastructure. Similarly, Rs 4,000 crore for promotion of herbal cultivation will lead to Rs 5,000 crores income generation for farmers.
“Each important aspect has been duly undertaking while drafting these measures in order to ensure that each one in the gamut gets benefited through the economic stimulus package. The Rs 500 crore package for beekeeping initiatives will increase yield & quality of crops through pollination and also provide honey and other beehive products like wax,” he noted.
Praising Prime Minister's initiative for the self-reliant India campaign, Thakur said that in these unprecedented the government has undertaken various measures to ensure that each strata of the society gets adequately equipped to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.