Absolute’s Upaj gets grant from Xamahar — Assam AgriFin Fund

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The tech-driven agri value chain business Upaj of Absolute, a bioscience company, has been awarded a grant from Xamahar — Assam AgriFin Fund to transform the livestock, fisheries and horticulture sectors in Assam.

Xamahar is a challenge agriculture fund, a competitive funding mechanism to support innovative approaches, especially by the private sector, and deliver financial services at scale to farmers in key agriculture value chains in Assam. It is funded by the World Bank and is being implemented by the Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services (ARIAS) as the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART).

Xamahar — Assam Agrifin Fund supports the testing and/ or scaling-up of tested innovations by financial service providers (banks, MFIs, value chain financiers, insurance companies, payments service providers) that increase access to financial services (savings, payments, insurance, and credit) among agriculture value chains in Assam.

1.25 lakh producers gain

A media statement said these innovations have been implemented or scaled up in the 23 priority districts of APART and have directly benefited 1,25,000 producers, 30 per cent of whom are women.

The statement said Upaj will deploy targeted technology and financial solutions, including precision advisory, agri-finance and insurance, across livestock, fisheries, and horticulture sectors through the grant. Combining its key modules — SmartSTAC for tech deployment and DigiSafe for personalised insurance — Upaj aims to elevate farm income and farmer livelihood in the APART districts under the purview of Xamahar Agrifin Challenge.

Upaj has over 20 lakh paid farmers in its ecosystem and aims to increase the number to 50 lakh, it said.

Quoting Sourabh Bagla, SVP of Upaj, it said the Xamahar AgriFin Challenge is a blueprint for agricultural transformation in underdeveloped regions. “Our partnership aims to empower marginalised farmers through cutting-edge technology, supporting not just individual producers but the entire ecosystem at scale,” Bagla said.