The government has proposed Rs 300 crore fund infusion in 2015-16 for National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to augment its capital base.
The Budget has allocated the amount towards subscription to share capital of Nabard, official documents said. The government had made provision for infusion of similar amount in the rural development lender during the current fiscal.
Nabard was set up with an initial capital of Rs 100 crore in 1982. Consequent to the revision in composition of share capital between Government of India and RBI, the paid up capital as on March 31, 2013, stood at Rs 4,000 crore with Government of India holding Rs 3,980 crore (99.50 per cent) and Reserve Bank of India 20 crore (0.5 per cent). To support the agriculture sector through effective and hassle-free agriculture credit, with a special focus on small and marginal farmers, Budget 2015-16 has proposed to allocate Rs 25,000 crore to the corpus of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) set up in Nabard.
Besides, it also made allocation of Rs 15,000 crore for Long Term Rural Credit Fund; Rs 45,000 crore for Short Term Cooperative Rural Credit Refinance Fund and Rs 15,000 crore for Short Term RRB
Refinance Fund.