Aug. 16: The proposed meat processing plant at Khanapara, which has been hanging fire since the Nineties, may finally see the light of day.

The National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (Nabard) has agreed to finance the plant under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). The decision was conveyed to the state government today. The bank will sanction Rs 3.92 crore as loan assistance to the Assam Livestock and Poultry Corporation Limited (ALPCO), which will implement the project.

Nabard officials said the project is expected to generate net benefit of Rs 2.47 crore per annum from the third year of its implementation as well as employment to many.

“This will also give a boost to the entrepreneurs who wish to invest in the meat-processing sector,” a Nabard official said, adding that the bank is ready to finance any project, which generates employment and provides direct economic benefit to people and the government.

The state government was trying hard to convince the Nabard for financing the project as no other financial institution was willing to fund it. The project remained half-done after the government failed to provide its matching share to the corporation in the 90s.

ALPCO officials said the Nabard decision to finance the project was a big relief and construction work would start soon.

“The main work is to improve the approach road and renovate the machinery which has been gathering rust for a number of years,” an ALPCO official said.

The plant will have a capacity to slaughter 1,500 goats, 100 pigs and 3,500 poultry everyday.

Most of the butchers’ shops in the city sell meat in temporary sheds constructed above the ground with bamboo mat, but without any exterior wall.