Dr. Vivek Joshi, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, chaired a Stakeholders meeting on Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) in presence of Dr. M. P. Tangirala, Addl. Secretary, DFS, Chairman, NABARD; Managing Director, National Housing Board (NHB); Finance Secretaries and other senior officers from State and UT Governments.

In his inaugural address, Dr. Joshi, highlighted the role of RIDF as a pivotal force in transforming rural economy and underscored the need to ensure faster completion of projects older than 3 years to all the State Governments.

Dr. Tangirala, made a detailed presentation on RIDF achievements and way forward. All participant States/UTs held detailed deliberations on various topics related to RIDF as a part of breakout sessions. The views of participant State/UT Governments on RIDF were presented to the stakeholders.

After the presentations, Dr. Joshi lauded constructive observations and suggestions coming out of these deliberations and advised NABARD to review the guidelines and processes related to RIDF to speed up project implementations and make RIDF more conducive to the needs of states. Shri Kartikeya Misra, Director, DFS summarised major outcomes of the meeting and gave a vote of thanks to the participants.

Rural Infrastructure Development Fund reforms to accelerate project completion and mandate guideline review for faster implementation. The meeting directed NABARD to reassess RIDF guidelines and internal processes to expedite completion of projects outstanding for more than three years, following state and UT presentations identifying implementation challenges and recommending procedural reforms to better align RIDF operations with state needs.