Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres Scheme (ACABC)

What is the Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres Scheme?

The Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres Scheme (ACABC) is a central scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, launched in April 2002, that turns trained agriculture graduates into self-employed rural service providers. According to the ACABC MIS portal at acabcmis.gov.in, the scheme was designed to "supplement the public extension system through committed private extension services" delivered by educated and trained candidates in self-employment mode.

ACABC has three moving parts and three separate agencies:

• Training is run by the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad, through a network of Nodal Training Institutes (NTIs) spread across the country.
• Credit comes from commercial banks, regional rural banks, state cooperative banks and SCARDBs, which appraise and sanction the term loan.
• Subsidy is channelled by NABARD, which also refinances participating banks at 100% of the term loan amount.

The scheme covers full financial support for training and hand-holding, plus a credit-linked back-ended composite subsidy on the venture you set up afterwards.

Two types of ventures

• Agri-clinics give farmers expert advice and services on soil health, cropping practices, plant protection, crop insurance, post-harvest technology, animal health, feed and fodder management and market prices.
• Agri-business centres are commercial units, maintenance and custom hiring of farm equipment, sale of inputs, seed processing, and other post-harvest and market-linkage services.

Who is eligible for the ACABC scheme?

You can join if you hold one of these qualifications:

• A degree in agriculture or an allied subject from a State Agricultural University, a Central Agricultural University, or a university recognised by ICAR or UGC.
• A diploma or post-graduate diploma in agriculture or allied subjects with at least 50% marks, from a State Agricultural University, a state agriculture department or a state department of technical education.
• A biological science degree with a post-graduation in agriculture or an allied subject.
• A UGC-recognised degree course with more than 60% of the course content in agriculture and allied subjects.
• A diploma or PG diploma with more than 60% agriculture content taken after a B.Sc. in biological sciences.
• An agriculture-related course at intermediate (plus-two) level with at least 55% marks.

Candidates are shortlisted by the Nodal Training Institute jointly with an official from ATMA or the state agriculture department, and then interviewed by a committee that includes representatives of the NTI, MANAGE, the KVK, NABARD and a bank.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible for the subsidy, if:

• You do not hold one of the qualifications listed above. ACABC is a qualification-linked scheme, not an open self-employment scheme. A farmer without an agriculture degree or diploma cannot apply.
• Your loan account was sanctioned before 9 July 2006. Subsidy is admissible only on investments made after that date.
• Your project is not completed within six months of first disbursement (or the extended period), in which case subsidy is withdrawn.
• Your bank rejects the proposal on techno-economic grounds. Training completion by itself creates no entitlement to credit or subsidy.

What documents are required for ACABC?

How to apply for the ACABC scheme

1. Open the official portal at acabcmis.gov.in and choose the Apply for Training option.
2. Register with your Aadhaar-linked details and fill in your qualification, marks and preferred Nodal Training Institute. Applications can also be submitted in the prescribed format directly to an NTI.
3. Attend the screening and interview conducted by the NTI along with officials from ATMA, MANAGE, KVK, NABARD, a bank and the state agriculture department.
4. Complete the free residential training at the allotted NTI, covering entrepreneurship, business management and skill modules for your chosen activity.
5. Prepare a detailed project report for your agri-clinic or agri-business centre with the hand-holding support the NTI is obliged to give.
6. Submit the project to a participating bank — commercial bank, RRB, state cooperative bank or SCARDB, for a term loan.
7. After sanction, complete the project within six months of first disbursement and report the venture on the ACABC MIS portal.
8. The bank claims the back-ended composite subsidy from NABARD and keeps it in a Subsidy Reserve Fund Account in your name, adjusted after the lock-in period.

How much benefit does ACABC provide?

According to the revised ACABC guidelines published by MANAGE, the subsidy is a back-ended composite subsidy:

• 44% of project cost for women, SC and ST candidates, and all categories of candidates from the North East and hill states.
• 36% of project cost for everyone else.

The ceiling of project cost eligible for subsidy is Rs 20 lakh for an individual project, raised to Rs 25 lakh for extremely successful individual projects, and Rs 100 lakh for a group project. In a group project of five members, one member may hold a management degree instead of an agriculture qualification.

On the credit side, the agriclinics.net scheme page states that the loan repayment period runs from 5 to 10 years with a moratorium of up to 2 years. Interest rate, margin and security are fixed by the bank under RBI rules; for loans up to Rs 5 lakh, security is limited to hypothecation of the assets created, following the RBI norms for tiny industries. NABARD refinances participating banks at 100% of the term loan.

How is the ACABC subsidy released?

The subsidy is not paid to you in cash. It sits in a Subsidy Reserve Fund Account maintained borrower-wise in the books of the financing bank, carries no interest, and is adjusted against your loan at the end of the lock-in period. The guidelines link this adjustment to the delivery of real extension services: a consolidated inspection report has to be finalised before the three-year lock-in expires, based on quarterly or surprise visits by two officials from a list that includes the ATMA Block Technology Manager, an ATMA Block Farmers' Advisory Committee representative, panchayat members, a NABARD or bank official and a block-level agriculture officer. Records of advisory services you provide to farmers form the basis of that report.

Units assisted under the scheme must display a sign board reading "Assisted under the Scheme of Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India".

Help and grievance redressal for ACABC

• ACABC helpline (MANAGE): 9951851556, Monday to Saturday, 9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
• Email (MANAGE): acabc-manage@manage.gov.in
• Portal support: the ACABC MIS site lists support.acabc@gov.in for portal-related issues.

Training under ACABC is free. No Nodal Training Institute may charge you a fee for the residential course, and no agent can promise you a bank sanction, that decision rests with the financing bank alone.