Govt to set up venture capital fund for dairy, poultry sectors

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Hyderabad, Feb 13: Finally, there is a ray of hope for the unorganised and ailing dairy and poultry units in the country. A Centrally-sponsored scheme termed as Dairy/Poultry Venture Capital Fund is being initiated by the Department of Animal Husbandry, with a total outlay of Rs 25 crore and is being implemented by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

Following the initiative, Rs 7.2 crore has been allocated for the year 2004-05 for effective implementation of this scheme. About 22 districts in 11 states for the poultry sector and 20 districts in eight states for the dairy industry have been selected for potential investments.

Under this scheme, interest-free loans up to 50% of the project cost will be provided to farmers by banks giving a fillip to the needy dairy and poultry units. At present, the scheme is being implemented by RRBs and commercial banks and the scheme is likely to go on till the end of the 10th Plan, according to Nabard officials.

The districts from 11 states selected for poultry investments are: Bareilly, Varanasi, Nainital, Dehra Dun, Kolar, Bangalore rural, Ganjam, Koraput, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Indore, Bhopal, Warangal, Mahboobnagar, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Pune, Bikaner, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Guwahati and Sikkim.