UBI sanctions 150 agri drone loans for Garuda Kisan Drones under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

UBI sanctions 150 agri drone loans for Garuda Kisan Drones under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Drone startup Garuda Aerospace has announced its partnership with the Union Bank of India. Under this partnership, 150 Garuda Kisan Drones have received sanction for drone loans under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF). The drone loans will help farmers to digitise land record operations for crop production, and spraying of fertilisers, chemicals, growth promotors and pesticides with the help of drones. The partnership will be useful for lead generation, customer acquisition, sourcing of applications, and due diligence of customers for credit deployment.

Garuda Kisan Drone is the 1st to receive the Agri Drone loan in July 2022 from Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) has about INR 1 lakh crore out of which 1000 crores have been allocated to drones. The AIF loans are collateral-free and can secure up to Rs.10 lakhs with three months of EMI relaxation and a 5 per cent interest rate for the youth and farmers. This development will help youth to buy drones and will help them earn their livelihood.

You may also like to read: Top technology trends that will shape agriculture in 2023

Highlighting the Partnership Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace said, “Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji flagged the Garuda Kisan Drone Yatra in February 2022 where 100 Agri Drones flew simultaneously in 100 villages across the country. Garuda’s goal is now to export 10,000 drones to 100 countries in the next six months. As Union Bank of India (UBI) has a pan-India presence and a wide network of branches, the partnership with Gruda Aerospace will help provide farmer-centric products in the field of agriculture. The Agri Infrastructure Fund scheme will finance 150 drone applications that will benefit the farmer community and create 150 skilled pilots who will engage to become entrepreneurs and improve farmers’ income. Garuda Aerospace has started training 1 lakh youth free of cost and is targeting to sell 5,000 drones before March 31, 2023.”

Raj Kumar, DGM, Madurai region, Union Bank of India, said, “The partnership with Garuda Aerospace for Agri Infrastructure Fund scheme and capital subsidy under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM). Bank has launched the Union Kisan Pushpak Scheme for financing Kisan Drones in the field of digitalisation of land records and operations in crop production, spraying of fertilisers, chemicals, growth promoters and pesticides. This will help the farmers in growing their crop yield and improve their income.”

You may also like to read: Agriculture needs to get strengthened for being climate-resilient

On occasion, Rajesh Kumar, Senior Manager, Katchikatti Branch (Madurai region), Union Bank of India, said, “The tie-up with the drone manufacturing company Garuda Aerospace, is the first of its kind in the industry, this tie-up will benefit both the organisations for the promotion of drones in use of agriculture sector and credit flow to Kisan Drones. In Union Budget 2022, the Government of India has announced several incentives for drone financing wherein farmers and entrepreneurs can avail the benefits.”

Click here to read Agritech stories.
Click here to read Agri Financing stories.
Engage with us on Telegram, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook.
Share on

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

10 × 1 =