The 2030 Water Resources Group (2030WRG), a consortium of public and private sector entities under the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will be raising up to $10 million to help about four lakh cotton farmers in Maharashtra adopt sustainable water and agriculture practices. It is talking to global corporates and textile players such as H&M and Marks & Spencer to raise funds.
Co-Head (Asia and the Middle East) of 2030WRG, Bastiaan Mohrmann told BusinessLine that the money would be raised and channelled through the Maharashtra Cotton Water Platform, a joint initiative of the Maharashtra Government, NGOs and industries aimed at de-risking the livelihoods of cotton farmers.
The Maharashtra platform is aimed at measures such as micro irrigation for cotton. It will look at ways to use structured finance instruments for adopting micro irrigation.