National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has secured Euro 68.87 million (Rs 600 cr) loan from Deutsche Bank, Germany’s leading bank, for onward lending to cooperatives in India. An agreement was inked between NCDC and the German Bank in this regard in the presence of the Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi today. The minister also presided over signing of an agreement between the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and NCDC to boost farmers linkages with markets.
Speaking on the occasion, Tomar said, the farmer producer organisations (FPOs) being set up in the country would be able to access easier credit and market through the NCDC agreements with ICC and Deutsche Bank, this will help small and marginal farmers.
Deutsche Bank’s initiative in India is just one of the many key business interests shown by German companies in India over the years. Today, more than 1700 German companies are active in India, providing around 4,00,000 direct and indirect jobs. Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and among India’s top 10 global trade partners.
Set up in 1963, NCDC is a development finance statutory institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It has extended loans to the tune of Euro 16 billion to cooperatives of various sizes since 2014. With zero net NPA, NCDC has pan India presence with its 18 regional directorates catering to all the states.
Parshottam Ruapala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, DAC&FW, GoI, Sundeep Kumar Nayak, MD, NCDC and Dileep Sanghani, President, National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) were also present on this occasion.
