The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on financing infrastructure projects with significant rural impact.

The partnership combines NABARD’s expertise in rural and agricultural infrastructure with NaBFID’s specialised infrastructure financing capabilities. It will focus on joint financing, knowledge sharing and developing financing solutions to improve access to long-term, competitively priced capital for rural infrastructure and related value chains.

Under the agreement, the two institutions will explore funding arrangements and infrastructure advisory services across the project lifecycle, including project identification, appraisal, due diligence, credit structuring, pricing and joint monitoring. They will also collaborate on project structuring, financial modelling and debt syndication.

The partnership will cover Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, agri-value chains and infrastructure with strong rural linkages. Focus areas include water and sanitation, irrigation, post-harvest storage, cold-chain facilities, terminal markets, rural roads and bridges, warehousing and compressed biogas projects.

Dr Shaji Krishnan V., Chairman, NABARD, said the collaboration would support value-chain financing and capacity building while helping bridge the rural-urban divide and advance rural prosperity.

Rajkiran Rai G, Managing Director, NaBFID, said the partnership could help develop commercially viable projects across food processing, storage and cold-chain connectivity, while supporting farmer incomes and strengthening the rural economy.

The institutions will also undertake joint capacity-building initiatives through their respective training facilities to strengthen knowledge and capabilities in infrastructure financing.

The collaboration is expected to improve the availability of long-term finance for rural infrastructure, enhance connectivity and market access, and support sustainable rural development in line with the Viksit Bharat vision.