NABARD lends Goa Rs 85 crore for rural infrastructure projects

PANAJI: Aside from market borrowings through state development loans, the government has borrowed Rs85 crores from the national bank for agriculture and rural development (NABARD) under the rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF) for various infrastructure projects to be taken up in Goa.
Among the projects taken up with the funds are bio-digestor toilets to meet the open defecation free (ODF) norms, drinking water supply and irrigation programs among the many others.
“NABARD has sanctioned loans worth Rs8,504 lakhs under RIDF to the government of Goa for various social infrastructure projects in the state. With this, NABARD achieved 100% of the target fixed for sanction to the state government during 2020-21,” said NABARD general manager Usha Ramesh.
Ramesh said that the funds will be used to create “social infrastructure” in rural areas. “The social infrastructure created out of the projects sanctioned to sewerage, bio-digestor toilets, drinking water distribution, primary health centres in the state would definitely help not only the standard of living of the people in the state but also would contribute to Prime Ministers’ Swachh Bharat mission,” said Ramesh.