category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh The Department of Horticulture, Government of Punjab organized Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) conclave at MGSIPA, Sec-26 Chandigarh, to share progress made by the state during last financial year (2022-23) and recognize the contributions made by Government as well as Private sector stakeholders for promotion of AIF scheme in the state of Punjab. It is pertinent to mention here that AIF scheme launched by the Ministry of Agriculture Farmers Welfare, Government of India was launched in July 2020. The objective of the AIF scheme is to create post-harvest management infrastructure across agriculture and horticulture value chains. The Department of Horticulture, Government of Punjab is the state nodal agency to implement AIF scheme in the state. The cabinet minister for horticulture Chetan Singh Jauramajra said taking forward the vision of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to increase farmers income , Punjab has made tremendous progress under the AIF Scheme , wherein investment worth more than INR 2877 crore has been attracted from 3480 projects, during the last financial year (2022-23). Loans worth Rs. 720 crores have already been sanctioned, out of which loans worth Rs. 591 crores have already been disbursed by various lending institutions. Leading districts in availing the benefits of the scheme from Punjab are Bathinda (326), Sangrur(326), Patiala (315), Sri Muktsar Sahib (294) and Fazilka (283). Jauramajra informed that Major agricultural infrastructures created in the State through the scheme includes Cold Rooms Cold Stores, Primary processing Centers, Custom Hiring Centers, Warehouses, Sorting grading unit, and Solar Panels on existing agriculture infrastructures. Punjab currently stands at 11th position across 35 states and UTs participating in the implementation of the scheme. (As on 31st March 2023). Talking about the progress under AIF scheme in Punjab in the current year the Minister said there is consistent upward trend for the past one year. The recent figure of total applications uploaded on AIF portal from Punjab is more than 5500 and project investment more than INR 3300 crore has been attracted. As I understand from the deliberations as part of AIF conclave today, this scheme has helped micro, small medium entrepreneurs to set up projects closer to production areas. (editor dailyworld.in)