Govt unveils Rs 50,000 crore programme for farmers

NEW DELHI: In an apparent bid to woo the farmers in an election year, government today announced a massive Rs 50,000 crore, three-year programme to build agri-infrastructure and provide more rural credit.
Announcing a slew of agri-reform measures, just a day after he had unveiled an industry-package, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said Nabard has been asked to work out details for creation of an Agricultural Infrastructure and Credit Fund (AICF) to implement the programme.
He said the Fund will be made operational within four weeks and will be in addition to the already functional Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
Under the AICF, the interest rate would be two per cent lower than the prime-lending rate to provide cheap credit to farmers and mitigate the difficulties of the farm sector.