Industry practice
Infrastructure that lets a farmer group keep the margin it creates
FPO strengthening, warehousing, cold chain, primary processing and grading infrastructure — structured so the value added stays with the producer organisation instead of leaking to the trader.
Sector visual
The opportunity, honestly
Post-harvest losses and the gap between farm-gate and consumer price are both large and both addressable with modest, heavily subsidised infrastructure. The binding constraint is rarely capital; it is governance, aggregation discipline and market linkage inside the producer organisation.
Agriculture & Agri-tech benchmarks
- ₹3.2 – 5 Cr
- Capex, 5,000 MT warehouse
- 3%
- AIF interest subvention
- 8 – 18%
- Typical FPO margin gain
- 23
- FPO engagements delivered
Including grading and weighbridge
On loans up to ₹2 crore per project
Versus mandi sale, post-grading
Across four states
Indicative ranges from our own delivered engagements at 2025–26 prices. They are published so you can sanity-check a quotation, not so you can budget a project.
What makes this sector hard
The five things that break agriculture & agri-tech projects
Not a risk register. These are the specific failures we have been called in to fix, more than once each.
Aggregation discipline
An FPO that cannot commit volume cannot negotiate price. Member commitment mechanisms matter more than the warehouse itself.
Working capital for procurement
Paying farmers at pickup needs a line that most FPOs cannot access on their own balance sheet. Structuring it is the real unlock.
Governance and compliance
Boards, audits, statutory filings and transparent pricing. Without these, no lender or institutional buyer will engage, regardless of the crop.
Market linkage
Infrastructure without a committed buyer becomes a subsidised shed. The offtake agreement should precede the construction.
Grading and traceability
Institutional and export buyers pay for consistent grades and documented provenance, not for volume alone.
Our playbook
How we approach a agriculture & agri-tech engagement
- 01
Business plan the FPO can run
Crop-wise volume, realistic margin, member commitment terms and a staffing model an FPO can actually afford and manage.
- 02
Fund infrastructure through AIF and state schemes
Warehousing, grading, primary processing and cold storage funded through the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, PMKSY and state horticulture missions.
- 03
Secure offtake before you build
Buyer conversations, grade specifications and indicative pricing settled before the capital is committed.
- 04
Governance that lenders accept
Board processes, transparent member pricing, audited accounts and an MIS that makes the FPO creditworthy on its own record.
- 05
Move up the value chain deliberately
Grading, then primary processing, then packing under an FPO brand — sequenced so each step is funded by the last.
Funding & schemes
What agriculture & agri-tech projects can actually claim
Indicative only — eligibility, quantum and windows change with each policy cycle, and sequence matters more than eligibility.
| Scheme | Administering body | Indicative benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture Infrastructure Fund | Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare | 3% interest subvention and credit guarantee on loans for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets. |
| 10,000 FPO Formation & Promotion | Ministry of Agriculture / NABARD / SFAC | Equity grant, management cost support and credit guarantee for new and growing farmer producer organisations. |
| PMKSY — Cold Chain | Ministry of Food Processing Industries | Grant-in-aid of 35–50% for integrated cold chain, pack houses, ripening chambers and reefer transport. |
| Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture | State horticulture mission | Subsidy on pack houses, cold rooms, primary processing units and protected cultivation infrastructure. |
Services we apply here
The practices that do agriculture & agri-tech work
Sector questions
Agriculture & Agri-tech: what promoters ask us
₹3.2 – 5 Cr
Capex, 5,000 MT warehouse
Including grading and weighbridge
Other industry practices
Agriculture & Agri-tech practice
Bring us a agriculture & agri-tech project
Forty-five minutes with the partner who runs this sector. You will get a view on feasibility, an indicative capital range and an honest read on whether the timing is right.
- Call
- +91 98765 43210
- Response
- Median 5h 40m in business hours