Rural Infrastructure Development Fund

About RIDF:

• RIDF was  instituted in NABARD with the sole objective of giving low cost support to State Governments and State owned Corporations for quick completion of projects related to medium and minor irrigation, soil conservation and others forms of rural infrastructure.
• Government of India created the RIDF in NABARD in 1995-96, with an initial corpus of Rs.2,000 crore.
• With the allocation of Rs.29,848 crore for 2020-21 under RIDF XXVI, the cumulative allocation has reached Rs.3,78,348 crore.

Eligible Activities and institutions

•  At present, there are 37 eligible activities under RIDF as approved by GoI. (Annexure I). The eligible activities are classified under three broad categories i.e.
  • Agriculture and related sector
  • Social sector
  • Rural connectivity
• Eligible Institutions include State Governments / Union Territories, State Owned/ supported Undertakings/ Organisations, Panchayat Raj Institutions/Self Help Groups (SHGs)/ NGOs etc
• The project for rural connectivity, social and agri-related sector, are eligible for loans from 80 to 95% of project cost.
• Loan to be repaid in equal annual instalments within seven years from the date of withdrawal, including a grace period of two years.

Prelims Question

Consider the following statements regarding Rural infrastructure development fund, recently in news:
1.It is administered by NABARD.
2.It can be used only for rural connectivity projects.
Which of the statements given above is/are true?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question