AGRI SURE’ FUND (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: Recently, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has announced an agri fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises (Agri-SURE).

Agri SURE’ Fund

• About: It is a fund initiated by NABVENTURES, a subsidiary of NABARD, with an initial corpus of Rs 750 crore.
• Contributions: The fund received contributions of Rs 250 crore each from NABARD and the Ministry of Agriculture, along with Rs 250 crore from other institutions.
• Objectives: To promote investment in high-risk, high-impact activities in agriculture and allied areas.
• Focus Areas:

o Promoting innovative, technology-driven initiatives in agriculture

o Enhancing the farm produce value chain

o Creating new rural ecosystem linkages and infrastructure

o Generating employment

o Supporting Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs)

• Entrepreneurship and Development: Agri-SURE aims to encourage entrepreneurship through IT-based solutions and machinery rental services for farmers, fostering sustainable growth in the agricultural sector.
• Investment Strategy: Agri-SURE supports startups through investments in sector-specific and sector-agnostic Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), as well as direct equity investments. 

o The fund aims to back approximately 85 agri startups with investments up to Rs 25 crore each by the end of its tenure.