NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) is an Indian financial institution that specialises in the management and provision of credit and other forms of financial assistance to India’s agricultural and rural sectors.
Its significance in providing help to meet changing demands in rural infrastructure was strongly felt when it was established in 1982, during the early years of the country’s technological transformation. NABARD, as a national financial institution, operates national projects and seeks to enhance rural infrastructure throughout the country. To alleviate farmer misery and increase rural incomes, Indian agriculture requires massive modernisation and expansion.
Credit must be made available to farmers in order for them to realise the benefits of modernisation and technical progress. Thus, NABARD has a three-pronged strategy that involves financing, development, and oversight of the country’s agricultural industry.
Functions
NABARD has several diverse duties when it comes to assisting rural communities financially. These are their names:
- The NABARD scheme attempts to give financing for rural infrastructure in India in order to facilitate long-term irrigation methods.
- Providing general financial services and assistance for the growth and betterment of rural India.
- Planning, implementing and monitoring any farming and agricultural funding schemes.
- Providing various funding services to selected locations for the development and growth of food processing units and food parks.
- Customers can get both long-term and short-term refinance services from this company. At the same time, it offers direct refinancing services to Indian cooperative banks.
- Rural warehouses can benefit from loan services, cold chain infrastructure, and storage infrastructure.
- The NABARD scheme can provide credit to marketing federations.
- Developing new policies for rural financial institutions in India.
Features
The NABARD lending scheme has the following aspects:
- Offering assistance with funding or refinancing.
- In India, the infrastructure of rural areas is being expanded.
- Developing credit plans for these areas at the district level.
- Providing direction and assistance to the banking sector in order for it to meet its own credit targets for the year.
- In India, they are in charge of supervising cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).
- Creating new projects to boost the country’s rural growth.
- Implementing any of the government’s development programmes aimed at promoting rural growth.
- Handicraft craftsmen might benefit from training services.
Farming Sector
NABARD, an agricultural lender, also offers particularly designed plans, such as the Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme, to help the farming sector. This scheme intends to empower dairy entrepreneurs by providing them with business assistance in order for them to establish dairy farms and grow further.
NABARD’s main goals include:
- Increasing the number of modern-day farms for milk production.
- Technological advancements boost milk production and commercialization.
- Promoting self-employment and improving infrastructure
- Conserving breeding stock and promoting heifer calf rearing
Other Farming Schemes Launched as Part of the NABARD:
- Agri-clinic and Agribusiness Centers Scheme
- The National Livestock Mission (NLM)
- GSS — Ensuring Subsidy End-Use
- Scheme for Interest Subvention
- NABARD’s Credit-Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS)
- Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme for Organic/Biological Inputs in Commercial Production Units
Another scheme, the Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme, was created in 2000 to help small-scale industries (SSIs) upgrade their units. These units must be included in the scheme’s established sub-sectors. Through constant support, NABARD has made a significant contribution to advancing India’s agricultural and rural development. The assistance is offered through both financial and non-financial methods, with the schemes primarily provided by rural cooperative banks and regional rural banks. Agricultural producers, fish farmers, cattle ranchers, and others can also profit from these tax breaks.