Long Term Irrigation Fund Explained

The Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) is a fund under the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for implementation of major and medium irrigation projects in India.

Operations

It was announced by Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley during the Union Budget Speech 2016-17 with an initial corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore.^[1] In the 2017-18 budget, another Rs. 20,000 were allocated.^[2] In addition, Rs. 5,000 crore were allocated for encouraging micro irrigation.^[3]

During 2016-17, the LTIF sanctioned Rs. 49,889.60 crore and released Rs.9,086.03 crore.^[4]

In 2018, NABARD sanctioned 12,773 crore to Maharashtra for 26 projects.^[5]

The LTIF has identified 99 projects to fund in 18 states. In addition, it funds the Polavaram National Project in Andhra Pradesh and North Koel Reservoir Project in Bihar and Jharkhand.^[6]

References

1. Web site: NABARD - National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development. www.nabard.org. 23 August 2018.
2. News: Budget Allocation for Water Resources Ministry increased by more than 11 percent LTIF Corpus Doubled. Delhi. 1 February 2017. Business Standard India. 23 August 2018.
3. Web site: The 2017-18 Budget and NABARD – Irrigation. NABARD. 23 August 2018.
4. Web site: Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) - long term benefits for Indian irrigation. NABARD. 23 August 2018.
5. News: Maharashtra gets Rs 12k cr Nabard loan for 26 pending irrigation projects. 2 February 2018. dna. 23 August 2018.
6. Web site: Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) - long term benefits for Indian irrigation. NABARD. 23 August 2018.