Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)

The RIDF was set up by the Government of India in 1995-96 for financing ongoing rural infrastructure projects. The fund is maintained by NABARD. Domestic commercial banks contribute to the fund to the extent of their shortfall in stipulated priority sector lending to agriculture. The main objective of the fund is to provide loans to state governments and stateowned corporations to enable them to complete ongoing rural infrastructure projects. Till the end of 2009-10, fifteen tranches (I to XV) of RIDF have been released covering total cumulative sanctions for Rs.1,03,718 crore for the entire country, out of which only Rs 68,440 crore (66percent) have been disbursed (Table 6.28). For Bihar, however, only Rs 1815 crore, or 47 percent of the total sanctions of Rs 3835 crore could be disbursed till March 2010.The scope of RIDF has been widened to include activities in agriculture and allied sectors including irrigation projects, rural connectivity (roads and bridges), social sector investments (rural health, education and drinking water), soil and water conservation, rain water harvesting etc.

Other activities include rural market yards, rural health centres and primary schools, mini hydel plants, shishu shiksha kendras, anganwadis, and system improvement in the power sector, flood protection, watershed development/reclamation of waterlogged areas, drainage, forest development, market yard/godown, apna mandi, rural haats and other marketing infrastructure, cold storage, seed/agriculture/ horticulture farms, plantation and horticulture, grading and certifying mechanisms such as testing and certifying laboratories, etc., community irrigation wells for irrigation purposes for the village as a whole, fishing harbour/jetties, riverine fisheries, animal husbandry and modern abattoir.

The total disbursements made by NABARD under the various tranches of the RIDF in Bihar is shown in Table 6.29. Only Rs 1242 crore out of total sanctioned amount of Rs 2899 crore, or 43 percent of the sanctioned amount have been disbursed till March 2009, leaving a huge shortfall between sanction and disbursement. By March 2010, the disbursements have marginally improved to 46.5 percent. Such shortfall in disbursements of RIDF funds as compared to sanctions has been a continuing feature and a matter of concern in the implementation of RIDF.