WDRA asks RRBs to join e-NWR platform
Small farmers with KCCs can get 1.5% interest rate discount for up to 6 months post-harvest for produce stored in WDRA-registered warehouses
New Delhi: The Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) has requested that all regional rural banks (RRBs) onboard its e-NWR (electronic negotiable warehouse receipt) ecosystem. This will help to boost pledge finance for farmers, who can use their stored agricultural produce as collateral to secure loans from banks.
The authority has estimated that post-harvest pledge finance has the potential to jump from the present Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 5 lakh crore. Further, the WDRA ecosystem also provides safeguards against fraudulence, official sources told Bizz Buzz.
Under the WDRA ecosystem, Rs 8,000-crore finance has already been extended through the WDRA-registered warehouses, the sources said, adding that hardly any major dispute has been reported by banks. On the other hand, many frauds took place in unregistered warehouses where physical warehouse receipts are given, resulting in huge losses to banks.
The produce stored in WDRA-registered warehouses has greater security compared with unregistered warehouses, the sources said. Also, the electronic negotiable warehouse receipt is safer compared with paper receipts, especially as chances of fraud against paper receipts are very high.
