ADB to fund Smartchem Technologies' farm efficiency initiative

The grant is in addition to financing of USD 30 million Blue loan, it stated.This financial association with ADB will help enhance our ongoing Specialty Fertiliser business, including the applied RD and grass-root farmer training initiatives, DFPCL Chairman and Managing Director Sailesh C Mehta said.

Smartchem Technologies Limited (STL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation (DFPCL), on Wednesday said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will fund its farm efficiency initiative through a USD 30 million loan facility.

The loan facility will be for a tenure of 5 years.

This is ADB's first agribusiness ''Blue Loan'', and the first such blue loan in India in this sector across institutions, according to a statement.

The loan will be used to finance capital expenditure as well as research and development of enhanced-efficiency specialty fertilizers.

ADB has also given approval for a technical assistance grant of USD 5,00,000 for building capacity for Soil Nutrition Management among Smallholder Farmers and Climate Resilience in India. The grant is in addition to the financing of USD 30 million (Blue loan), it stated.

''This financial association with ADB will help enhance our ongoing Specialty Fertiliser business, including the applied R&D and grass-root farmer training initiatives,'' DFPCL Chairman and Managing Director Sailesh C Mehta said. ADB's Director General for Private Sector Operations Suzanne Gaboury said that the private sector investment in agriculture is critical to help farmers adapt to climate change.

''The private sector can play an important role in bringing more advanced fertilizer products to the market, investing in local manufacturing to reduce reliance on imports, and training farmers in proper usage and soil management,'' she added.