Nabard to create storage capacity of 9.23 lakh tonne

Bhubaneswar: With inadequate storage facility is a major concern for the state government, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) aims to create scientific storage space of 9.23 lakh tonne by construction of godowns and warehouses.

"The Nabard has sanctioned Rs 1077 crore from its warehouse infrastructure fund to the state government for constructing more than 3700 rural godowns which will create an estimated scientific storage space of 9.23 lakh MT," said chief general manager of Nabard (Odisha circle) S K Kale while addressing the 34th foundation stone of the bank here.

The move is in line with the priority of the state government to increase the warehouse and storage capacity in the state to benefit the small and marginal farmers.

The Nabard is also co-coordinating with the state government for setting up of mega food parks and agro processing units by providing assistance from its corpus of Rs 2000 crore, he said.

According to sources, the Nabard sanctioned short term credit worth Rs 5,000 crore to regional rural banks and cooperative societies in 2014-15 for helping over five million farmers in the state.

For 2015-16, the Nabard had projected an annual credit potential of Rs 47,756.43 crore for some of the priority sectors including water resources, land development, farm mechanization, diary, poultry, fishery, construction of storage godown and market yards and promoting renewal sources of energy and waste management.

The outlay is an increase of 19 per cent over Rs 40001.01 crore in 2014-15, sources said.

Attending the function, chief secretary G C Pati urged the bank form policy for reducing the inequality in farm and non-farm sector. He emphasized on expanding outreach of banks in rural areas to provide banking services in the remotest corner of the state.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.