New Delhi: The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabad) has drafted new loan proposals to finance private sector to build storage houses. Nabad is facing huge shortage of warehouses for storing agricultural products.

The new scheme has already got a green signal from the Centre, now Nabad is gearing up to give direct loans to public and private sectors for building warehouses, cold storage and storage towers.

The developmental body is trying to increase the involvement of the private players in warehousing infra developments for perishable green products such as fruit and vegetables.

Maharashtra is going to get most benefit from the loan scheme as the state faces a huge storage gap of 28.16 lakh mt, with 15.89 lakh mt for cold store, affecting all the districts.

The new financing scheme by Nabad will be helpful to bridge the storage gap in the country and it can also boost the scientific storage and preservation of the agricultural products in the country.

The body is estimating to help in constructing an additional 100 mt modern storages.

The financing and constructions should be done keeping the rules drafted by the Warehouse Development and Regulator Authority.