NABARD sanctions Rs 372.51 crore to Odisha

BHUBANESWAR (INDIA): The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 372.51 crore loan assistance under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to Odisha towards irrigation and rural bridge projects for the last quarter of this fiscal.nnA total number of 17,322 lift irrigation projects including bore wells, shallow tube wells, digging wells, micro river lifts shall be taken up with Rs 130.17 crore from the assistance, the bank said in a release here today.nnThis will provide assured irrigation to about 36,440 hectares of agricultural land directly benefiting about 40,000 farmers of our state.nnThis apart, NABARD has also sanctioned 14 Rural Bridge Projects under Biju Setu Yojana with RIDF loan assistance of Rs 242.34 crore which would add 6222.89 metres of bridge length, benefiting about 4.56 lakh population in 322 villages of the state, it said.nnThe NABARD has provided financial assistance of Rs 10,000 crore to Odisha by the end of the third quarter of the current financial year. During the previous fiscal, the total assistance was Rs 14,715 crore, officials said.nnSince inception of RIDF in 1995-96, NABARD has sanctioned cumulative financial assistance of about Rs 19,950 crore to Odisha resulting in implementation of about 2.24 lakh projects, a bank official said.nnSource: Press Trust of India