National Handicapped Finance And Development Corporation (NHFDC)

NHFDC was set up by the government of India in 1997 with an authorised share capital of Rupees 400 crores and is incorporated with Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Its objectives include:

• Promote self-employment for benefit of persons with disabilities
• Extend loans to persons with disabilities for pursuing general/professional/technical education at graduate and higher levels
• Assist in the upgradation of technical and entrepreneurial skills of persons with disabilities for efficient management of production units
• Assist self-employed individuals of registered factories/companies/co-operatives of disabled persons in marketing their finished goods and assist in procurement of raw materials

Eligibility

Basic qualifications are:

• Any Indian citizen with 40 % or more disability
• Age between 18 and 55 years
• Annual income below Rupees 60,000 for urban areas and Rupees 55,000 per annum for rural areas
• Relevant educational/technical/vocational qualification experience and background

NHFDC Schemes

NHFDC has a variety of schemes which provides loans to invest in agriculture, industrial units etc as well as it provides loans for the education of disabled persons. You can find out more about the schemes on offer from http://www.nhfdc.org/site/scas_schemes.aspx.

The procedures for obtaining the loans:

Applications on prescribed format have to be submitted through the State Channelising Agencies. Projects up to Rupees 1.0 lakh are sanctioned by State Channelising Agency and projects more than Rupees 1.0 lakh are sanctioned by NHFDC.

The application forms for applying for loans can be downloaded from http://nhfdc.org/site/application_form.aspx.

The address of state channelising agencies can be obtained from http://nhfdc.nic.in/upload/nhfdc/SCA_Address.pdf.

For further details contact: 
National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation
(Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment) 
Red Cross Bhawan, Sector 12, Faridabad 121 007
Phone: (0129) 2287512, 2287513, 2280214, 2280335, 2264841 
Telefax: (0129) 2284371
Email: nhfdc@nda.vsnl.net.in

Public Sector Banks

Under the schemes of public sector banks for the welfare of physically handicapped persons, differential interest rates are available to physically handicapped persons as well as institutions working for the welfare of the handicapped.

Eligibility (for individuals)

Physically handicapped persons:-
• pursuing a gainful occupation
• family income should not exceed Rupees 7200 per annum in urban and Rupees 6400 per annum in rural areas
• should not have land holding exceed 1 acre if irrigated and 25 acres if un-irrigated
• should not incur liability to two sources of finance at the same time
• should not employee paid employees on a regular basis

Eligibility (for institutions)

Institutions for the physically handicapped persons pursuing gainful occupation are also eligible to take benefit for productive and administrative expenses. The institutions are exempted from income criteria.

Assessment: The quantum of loan, both for working capital and for acquisition of fixed assets, will be determined on the basis of the needs of institutions/individuals.

Amount of Loan: The amount of loan will depend on the particular scheme proposed to be financed. The normal limit will be Rupees 6,500 for working capital loan and Rupees 5,500 for a term loan. In exceptional cases, particularly for institutions etc., higher amounts are allowed.

Repayment: Term for the acquisition of fixed assets are normally allowed for five years, including a grace period not exceeding two years on the repayment of principal. The repayment schedule will be working out in each case having regard to the nature of the activities of the borrower and the economics of the scheme.

Security: The borrower may or may not be able to offer tangible security to secure the loan. The potential viability of a project will be the main criterion for the grant of an advance.

Margin: In the case of borrowers belonging to the weakest strata of society who may not be in a position to furnish margin money, requirements of margin money will not be insisted upon.

Rate of interest: The interest will uniformly be charged @ 4 per cent per annum. Physically handicapped persons including blind eligible under DRI scheme are also given loans for purchasing of artificial limbs, hearing aids, wheelchairs etc., subject to maximum of Rupees 2500 per borrower provided such assistance is given along with the advances for productive activities and self employment ventures and all other requirements under DRI Scheme are fulfilled.

Under the scheme of 'Financing Small Scale Industries' a special provision has been made to allow concession of .5% in the rate of interest to the physically handicapped availing working capital limit above Rupees 2500 and upto Rupees 2.0 lakhs.

Repayment period and interest on working capital stipulated as under:

Repayment Medium term loan : 5 to 7 years including
Period : Moratorium period of 6 to 12 months
Old Machinery other than generator set: 36 months
New Generator set: 42 months
Old Generator set: 30 months
Interest for Working Capital:

With aggregate advance upto Rupees 25,000: 12.5%
Above Rupees 25,000 upto Rupees 2.0 lakhs: 13.5%