NABARD arm launches Rs 750-crore agri fund to finance startups, rural enterprises

New Delhi: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on Friday said its arm has launched a Rs 750-crore agri fund for startups and rural enterprises.

The fund called 'Agri-SURE' is announced by NABVENTURES, a subsidiary of NABARD, with an initial corpus of Rs 750 crore with Rs 250 crore each from NABARD and the Ministry of Agriculture, and Rs 250 crore from other institutions.

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This fund aims to promote investment in innovative, technology-driven, high-risk, and high-impact activities in agriculture and allied areas, NABARD said in a statement.

Managed by NABVENTURES, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NABARD, the fund is structured to support approximately 85 agri startups with investment sizes of up to Rs 25 crore each by the end of its term, it said.

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 startups, it said.

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 Organizations (FPOs), it said.

Additionally, the fund aims to encourage entrepreneurship through IT-based solutions and machinery rental services for farmers, driving sustainable growth and development in the agricultural sector, it said.

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