NABARD allots Rs 800 crore to finance WASH programmes
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has announced a special refinance facility to support the Centre’s water, sanitisation and hygiene (WASH) projects and earmarked Rs 800 crore for the purpose for 2020-21.
The funding will help promote sustainable and healthy lifestyle in rural areas.
The apex development financial institution (DFI) will provide the concessional refinance to all eligible financial institutions including commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks with a repayment period of up to 36 months.
The support will be channelised to fund WASH activities, a thrust area eligible for 95 per cent refinance. The bank credit will also be extended to NBFCs-MFIs and other MFIs (Societies, Trusts, etc.).
“It will further strengthen our efforts for the betterment of the rural sectors while supporting the GoI’s mission of ensuring sustainable and healthy lifestyle amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial institutions will be better placed to improve credit flow to the sanitation sector in rural India where vulnerable communities do not have access to WASH facilities”, said NABARD Chairman Dr GR Chintala.
The funding will support eligible activities such as construction, repairing, enlarging of household toilets or converting an existing toilet to an accessible family toilet, installing and adding a hand wash facility, domestic water motor pump, bore well & tube well, sumps, water connections & pipelines, overhead water storage tanks, rainwater harvesting structures, water filters & purifiers, community water purifier plants, wastewater systems, among others.
The funding will also be available for setting up of faecal sludge treatment plants, support to start-ups/entrepreneurs/MSMEs manufacturing and supplying sanitary fittings, readymade toilets, etc.
While the initiative will act as a boost to the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, it will also encourage rural youth, small and medium enterprises and SHGs to undertake commercial activities in the sanitisation sector, NABARD said in a statement.
