Gramin Bhandaran Yojana

Gramin Bhandaran Yojana is a capital investment subsidy scheme for the construction or renovation of rural warehouses or godowns for storing farm produce. The scheme is aimed at assisting farmers in increasing their holding capacity. This could, in turn, lead to the sale of produce at rewarding prices by avoiding distress sales.

Objective

The scheme seeks to:

Create scientific storage capacity with allied facilities in rural areas to help farmers in storing farm produce, processed farm produce and agricultural inputs.
Promote grading, standardization and quality control of agricultural produce so as to improve its marketability.
Prevent distress sale immediately after harvest by providing the facility of pledge financing and marketing credit.
Create a robust agricultural marketing infrastructure in the country by facilitating the creation of a national system of warehouse receipts in respect of agricultural commodities stored in such warehouses.
Revive the prospects of agricultural investments by encouraging private and cooperative sectors to invest in the creation of storage infrastructure in the country.

Eligibility

Loans under the scheme is extended to:

Marketing Boards
Agro-processing co-operative societies
Agro-processing corporations
Agro-industrial corporations
Other corporations
Quality testing laboratories
Partnership firms
Companies
Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees
Farmers
Proprietary firms
Co-operatives
Non-Governmental Organizations
Farmers’ groups
Self-help groups

Location Specifications

Warehouses, for the purpose of this scheme, can be constructed/located anywhere outside the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation Area. Also, rural warehouses located in Food Parks promoted by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries are eligible for assistance. Warehouses constructed under the scheme must be structurally sound in terms of engineering considerations and appropriate for the storage of agricultural produce. The licensing requirements vary in accordance with the different states. Rural warehouses of 1,000 or more tonnes capacity should be accredited by the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC).

Subsidy

The entrepreneur is free to decide on the capacity of a warehouse. The disbursal of subsidies, however, would be restricted to a capacity of between 100 tonnes and 30,000 tonnes. Smaller-size rural warehouses of up to 50 tonnes capacity are also considered based on viability analysis/topography of the region. Rural warehouses located in hilly areas qualify if their capacity is not more than 25 tonnes. The rates of subsidy are as tabulated below:

S. No	Category of Applicant	Rate of Subsidy
1	SC/ST entrepreneurs and their cooperatives	33.33% of the capital cost of the project, subject to a maximum of INR 3 crores
2	Farmers, agricultural graduates and cooperatives	25% of the capital cost of the project, subject to a maximum of Rs. 2.25 crores
3	Individuals, companies and corporations	15% of the capital cost of the project, subject to a maximum of INR 1.35 crores
4	Renovation of warehouses of cooperatives with the aid of NCDC	25% of the capital cost of the project.

The above-mentioned subsidy would be released through NABARD for projects funded by select banks (listed below). Entrepreneurs may avail these benefits by pledging security of mortgage of land and warehouse.

What Does it Cover?

The credit facility covers construction costs of boundary wall, grading, platform, packaging, internal road, and internal drainage system. Besides these, the benefit would be extended to quality certification and warehousing facilities.

Affiliated Banks

Subsidy linked to institutional credit is granted for projects funded by the following institutions:

Urban Cooperative Banks
Regional Rural Banks
Commercial Banks
North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFI)
State Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank
State cooperatives banks
Agricultural Development Finance Committee

Pledge Loan Facilities

Farmers who maintain their products in the warehouses would be eligible for pledge loan facilities on hypothecation of their produce. The terms and conditions of such deals would be in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)/National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and as per the banking practices followed by financial institutions.