Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala launched Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) projects and felicitated entrepreneurs in the AHIDF conclave held on July 14.

Rupala also launched the credit guarantee portal for AHIDF.

Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)

The Rs 15,000 crore Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) has been approved for incentivising investments to establish:

i) the dairy processing and value addition infrastructure.

ii) meat processing and value addition infrastructure.

iii) Animal Feed Plant.

iv) Breed improvement technology and breed multiplication farms for cattle/buffalo/ sheep/goat/pig and technologically assisted poultry farms.

Objectives of the scheme are to:

• Help increasing milk and meat processing capacity and product diversification thereby providing greater access for unorganised rural milk and meat producers to organised milk and meat markets.

• Make available increased price realisation for the producer.

• Make available quality milk and meat products for the domestic consumers.

• Fulfil the objective of protein enriched quality food requirement of the growing population of the country and prevent malnutrition.

• Develop entrepreneurship and generate employment.

• Promote exports and increase the export contribution in the milk and meat sector.

• Make available quality concentrated animal feeds to the cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig and poultry to provide balanced ration at affordable prices.

Eligible entities for support under AHIDF:

a) Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)

b) Private companies

c) Individual entrepreneurs

d) Section 8 companies

e) Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.

• The central government is providing 3 per cent interest subvention.

• The government has also set up a Credit Guarantee Fund to provide credit guarantee of 25 per cent of the borrowing to those projects which are covered under MSME definition. 

• The interest subvention will be provided to the beneficiaries over a period of eight years maximum up to 10 years of repayment period provided the beneficiaries are not defaulters.

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