To expedite investments under various agri-sector schemes, the government will let investors to benefit from its unified digital platform Krishi Nivesh.
The facility is being used by a host of ministries including agriculture, food processing, Jal Shakti, new and renewable energy and fertilizers.
Sources said the platform by agriculture ministry currently provide information about 11 flagship agri-schemes including agriculture infrastructure fund, animal husbandry infrastructure development fund, PM Kisan Sampada Yojana, PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) of seven ministries at a single source.
The government has allocated Rs 1.31 lakh crore for theses scheme as per revised estimate of FY25.
The portal would integrate more central and state schemes linked to the agriculture sector. Sources said in FY22, private investment in the agriculture sector was Rs 2.79 lakh crore.
“We will be soon adding information about the state level schemes for promotion for the agriculture sector along with establishing chat bots to individual investors for resolving their queries,” sources said. This would address problems like lack of acess to information on government schemes and their progress, siloed operations across departments and slow progress of loan disbursement.
In addition, the digital platform would support investors through a module of detailed project reports and will eventually trace the approval process of investment proposals and progress in terms of implementation.
It also helps investors in the application process while ensuring that potential investors take benefits of convergence of various schemes. “The aim of the portal would be to ensure that it supports investors in getting benefits of the various schemes of the centre as well as state government under convergence models,” according to a source.
At present information about several mega schemes related to agriculture sectors are implemented by various ministries such as animal husbandry, rural development, agriculture and food processing are available with their respective ministries which makes it difficult for investors such as farmers producer organisations, entrepreneurs, and industries to navigate.
The portal would access the slow process of loan disbursal under various schemes while categorizing investments opportunities based on geographical spread aimed at unlocking investment potential in the secto.
Meanwhile the agriculture ministry on Tuesday stated in the parliament that investments in agriculture are aimed at infrastructure development in irrigation systems, use of advanced machinery, high-yielding seeds, pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, nematicides and creating scientific storage facilities to minimize post-harvest losses and processing facilities for value addition.
While launching the platform last year, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had stated that the portal should address longstanding challenges in the agriculture sector, such as fragmented information, siloed operations across departments, and slow progress in loan disbursement and scheme applications. Chouhan had stated the digital platform would bridge the information gap and facilitate seamless coordination between various departments, for boosting agri-investments.