SBI, StarAgri tie-up for farmer funds, collateral mgmt

Public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) and Star Agriwarehousing & Collateral Management Limited (StarAgri), an agri-services and solutions provider, have entered into a tie-up for warehousing receipt financing and collateral management services.

The partnership will deliver post-harvest credit facility to farmers all across India, a company statement said. The two companies aim to reach farmers, joint liability groups and producer companies through SBI's 9,426-plus rural and semi-rural branches and StarAgri's offices spread over all states in India.

SBI will provide post-harvest credit facilities while StarAgri will offer warehousing and other value-added services to farmers. The produce stored in StarAgri's warehouses will act as collateral. SBI is the leader in agri-finance in the country with a portfolio of over Rs 1 lakh crore in agri-advances.