Fruits and vegetables transported through Kisan Rail will be given a subsidy of 50 per cent on transportation charges. The Railway Board announced this scheme in a letter addressed to all zonal railways on Tuesday.
This scheme will be available across all railway zones with immediate effect. This subsidy will be extended by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under its scheme named Operation Greens – TOP to TOTAL.
TOP is tomato, onion and potato while Total stands for all fruits and vegetables. Fruits include Mango, Banana, Guava, Kiwi, Litchi, Papaya, Citrus, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Jackfruit while vegetables include French beans, Bitter Gourd, Brinjal, Capsicum, Carrot, Cauliflower, Green Chillies, Okra, Onion, Potato and Tomato.
Any other fruit/vegetable can be added in the future based on the recommendations of the Agriculture Ministry or State Government.
Food Processors, FPO/FPC, Co-operative Societies, Individual farmers, Licensed Commission Agent, Exporters, State Marketing/Co- operative Federation and retailers engaged in processing/ marketing of fruits and vegetables are eligible entities to avail of this scheme.
MoFPI will also subsidise 50 per cent of hiring appropriate storage facilities for a three -month period.
The subsidy has been extended to Kisan Rail users based on a letter from the Principal Chief Commercial Manager, South Central Railway (SCR)dated September 23,2020.
MoFPI wil initially provide a subsidy of Rs 10 crore to SCR in the form of a deposit. Once this corpus is exhausted,IR will issue a utilisation certificate to MoFPI which in turn will replenish the corpus.
Indian Railways (IR) will maintain the data related to grant of subsidy (consignor, consignee, train number, P-way bill number and amount).
The responsibility of ensuring that only notified fruits and vegetables are extended the benefits of this scheme has been given to the Chief Parcel Supervisor at every loading station.
The modalities of accountal are being finalised and will be communicated shortly, the Railway Board letter said.