News Excerpt:

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the continuation of the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) to be implemented under the Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF) with an outlay of Rs.29,610.25 crore for another three years up to 2025-26.

More about the news:

• The Government of India will provide a 3% interest subvention for 8 years including two years of moratorium for loans up to 90% from the scheduled bank and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), NABARD, and NDDB.
• The Dairy Cooperatives will also avail benefits for the modernization, and strengthening of the dairy plants.
• The government of India will provide credit guarantees to the MSME and Dairy Cooperatives up to 25% of the credit borrowed from the Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs.750 crore.
• The AHIDF has so far created an impact by adding 141.04 LLPD (Lakh Ltr. Per Day) of milk processing capacity, 79.24 lakh metric tons of feed processing capacity, and 9.06 Lakh metric tons of meat processing capacity by adding to the supply chain since the inception of the scheme. 
• The scheme has been able to increase processing capacity by 2-4% in the dairy, meat, and animal feed sectors.

Components of the AHIDF:

The broad investment activities eligible under AHIDF are -  

1. Dairy processing and value-added infrastructure  
2. Meat processing and value-added infrastructure
3. Establishment of animal feed plants
4. Breed improvement technology and Breed multiplication farms    

Eligible Entities (EEs):

1. Farmer Producer Organization(FPO)    
2. Private companies   
3. Individuals   
4. Individual entrepreneurs   
5. Section 8 companies    
6. Micro Small and Medium Enterprises 

Objectives of the scheme:   

• To help increase milk meat processing capacity and product diversification thereby providing greater access for unorganized rural milk and meat producers to organized milk and meat market.  
• To make available increased price realization for the producer.  
• To make available quality milk and meat products for the domestic consumer.  
• To fulfill the objective of protein-enriched quality food requirement of the growing population of the country and prevent malnutrition in one of the highest malnourished children populations in the world.  
• Develop entrepreneurship and generate employment.  
• To promote exports and increase the export contribution in the milk and meat sector.  
• To make available quality concentrated animal feed to the cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, and poultry to provide balanced ration at affordable prices. 

Significance of the scheme:

• The scheme will be a channel towards employment generation directly and indirectly to 35 lakh people through entrepreneurship development and aims for wealth creation in the livestock sector.
• So far, the AHIDF has benefitted directly /indirectly approximately 15 lakh farmers.  
• AHIDF is emerging on a path towards achieving the Prime Minister’s goal of doubling farmers’ income, tapping the livestock sector by bringing the private sector investment, bringing in the latest technologies for processing and value addition, and contributing to the Nation’s economy by promoting the export of Livestock products. 
• Such investments in processing and value-addition infrastructure by eligible beneficiaries would also promote the export of these processed and value-added commodities.
• Thus investment by incentivisation in AHIDF would not only leverage private investment 7 times but would also motivate farmers to invest more on inputs thereby driving higher productivity and leading to an increase in farmers' income.

Conclusion:

After the inclusion of new activities like technologically-assisted breed multiplication farms, strengthening of veterinary drugs and vaccine units, and animal waste to wealth management, the scheme will exhibit a huge potential for the upgradation of infrastructure in the livestock sector.