The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development will issue 15-year bonds to raise Rs 20,000 crore for an irrigation fund. The bonds will be issued starting from August and will be in four or five tranches, according to Nabard chairman HK Bhanwala. He said the idea is to raise funds throughout the year. The proposal is with the government now and once Cabinet clears it, Nabard is ready to issue the bonds. The fund will be used for irrigation of 19 lakh hectares of land, he said. Nabard will raise Rs 13,000 crore while the rest will come through budgetary support. It will be used fast-tracking the implementation of incomplete major and medium irrigation projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), he said.
