ITANAGAR, Mar 5: The state government on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) for implementation the Arunachal Agri Startup Scheme.
The MoU was signed at the civil secretariat here by Agriculture Secretary Bidol Tayeng and NABARD General Manager Gopa Kumaran Nair.
Under the scheme, the state government will provide additional top-up capital subsidy to agriculture and allied graduates and diploma holders of the state.
“Additional top-up capital subsidy of 25 percent of the project outlay over and above 44 percent already available under ACABC scheme of the GoI will be admissible to eligible beneficiaries for establishment of units as per list of ACABC scheme of GoI,” the NABARD informed in a press release.
It said the operational period of the scheme will be for five years from 2020-21, with a total layout of Rs 500 lakhs.
Individuals as well as groups of maximum of five graduates undertaking group-based projects are eligible for assistance under the scheme.
The bank said the benefit under the scheme will be available for “new or existing projects (in live loan cases only) supported under ACABC scheme of GoI for agriculture and allied graduates/para-agri and allied professionals/graduates in subjects allied to agriculture, like horticulture, animal husbandry, dairy, veterinary, poultry farming, sericulture, pisciculture, etc, trained under ACABC scheme.”
The scheme will cover 100 agriculture and allied graduates and diploma holders trained and supported under the Centre’s ACABC scheme.
The NABARD said the scheme is “purely credit-linked and subject to sanction of the project by commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks, based on economic viability of the project and other commercial considerations.”
The NABARD will be the nodal agency for channeling the subsidy under the scheme.
Banks claiming central government subsidy from the NABARD under the ACABC scheme may claim the additional top-up capital subsidy under the Arunachal Agri Startup Scheme from the NABARD’s regional office here within 30 days from the date of sanction of loan, it said.
