(TH)
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has announced an agri fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises (Agri-SURE), with initial corpus of ₹750 crore to be managed by its wholly owned subsidiary Nabventures. While NABARD and the Ministry of Agriculture are contributing ₹250 crore each, the rest ₹250 crore is from other institutions.
The fund is structured to support about 85 agri start-ups with investment sizes of up to ₹25 crore each by the end of its term. The fund will provide support through investments in sector-specific, sector-agnostic, and debt alternative investment funds (AIFs), as well as direct equity support to start-ups.
“Agri-SURE’s focus areas include promoting innovative, technology-driven initiatives in agriculture, enhancing the farm produce value chain, creating new rural ecosystem linkages and infrastructure, generating employment, and supporting Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs),” NABARD said.
Additionally, the fund would encourage entrepreneurship through IT-based solutions and machinery rental services for farmers, driving sustainable growth and development in the agricultural sector. A.K. Sahu, Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare said, “The broader objective of this initiative is to address the flailing issues for agri and rural sector. We need innovation and technology to ensure the last mile delivery of resources.”
