NABARD enters private sector financing for warehouse, storage

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has for the first time opened a lending window to the private sector for creation of warehouse space, cold storages and cold chains.
     
According to G R Chintala, chief general manager, who heads the regional office of Karnataka, NABARD would be financing storage infrastructure projects of private companies and private entrepreneurs.

This is besides financing to state governments, state government undertakings, (special purpose vehicles) SPVs set up under PPP mode, cooperatives, federations, cooperative federations, (Agricultural Produce Market Committees) APMCs, state-level boards, apex marketing boards/bodies and panchayats for creation of scientific storage space for food grains and other agricultural commodities and perishables.

NABARD has designed this scheme to suit the special fund created and announced in the Union Budget of 2013-14, where a special allocation of Rs 5,000 crore had been made to promote these activities at the "fastest pace".
     
As per the scheme, the infrastructure to be created should be in accordance with Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority guidelines and would include normal warehouses, silos, cold storages and controlled atmosphere structures and bulk chillers.
     
According to the present ground level position, a storage gap of 2.18 million metric tonnes for warehouses by the end of 2016-17 has been estimated in Karnataka. There is likely to be a good scope for cold storages and cold chains in the state.
     
The warehouse gap is significantly high in the districts of Davangere, Shimoga, Mandya, Mysore, Belgaum, Bellary, Yadgir, Koppal and Raichur. The scheme can be effectively utilised for reducing this storage gap and ensuring proper scientific storage of agriculture commodities, a NABARD statement said.