Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) Scheme

What is the Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) scheme?

The Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) scheme is a sub-scheme of the Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM), implemented by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection (DMI) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. According to DMI, AMI provides a subsidy to create scientific storage capacity and rural agricultural marketing infrastructure so that farmers can store produce safely, reduce post-harvest and distress-sale losses, and get better prices.

AMI is a credit-linked, back-ended subsidy scheme. The project must be financed by a term loan from a bank, and the government's subsidy is kept back and adjusted against that loan after the project is built and verified. This design ensures that only genuine, completed projects draw the benefit. The subsidy is routed through NABARD for most applicants, and through NCDC for cooperatives.

What AMI supports

• Scientific storage godowns to reduce post-harvest losses.
• Rural agricultural marketing infrastructure and related facilities.
• Grading, standardisation and quality-related infrastructure in the marketing chain (as covered by the guidelines).

Who is eligible for the AMI scheme?

AMI has a deliberately wide beneficiary base, but it is tied to setting up eligible infrastructure with a bank loan.

You can apply if you are:

• An individual farmer or a group of farmers.
• An agri-entrepreneur, proprietary or partnership firm, or company.
• A Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO), cooperative, self-help group, or NGO.
• A state agency or local body setting up eligible marketing infrastructure.

To qualify, the applicant must own or hold a long lease on the site, have a viable project report, and finance the project through a term loan. The subsidy is credit-linked, so a self-funded project without a loan does not qualify.

Who cannot apply / what is not eligible: A farmer seeking free cash support without building any infrastructure cannot apply, AMI is not an income-support scheme like a direct benefit transfer. Projects not financed by an eligible bank loan are not eligible, because the subsidy is back-ended against the loan. Storage projects outside the eligible capacity band set in the guidelines, and purely commercial ventures with no agricultural-marketing purpose, also fall outside the scheme. Applicants should confirm the current eligible capacity band and any category-specific conditions in the live DMI guidelines.

What subsidy does AMI provide?

AMI provides a credit-linked, back-ended subsidy of 25% of the capital cost for general applicants, rising to 33.33% for special categories — commonly the North-Eastern states, hilly and difficult areas, SC/ST beneficiaries, women, FPOs, cooperatives and registered panchayats. Storage projects are eligible for subsidy within a capacity band set in the guidelines, commonly from about 50 MT up to 5,000 MT per project, with a lower floor for hilly areas.

Because the exact per-project ceilings, the eligible capacity band and the list of special categories are laid down in the DMI operational guidelines (which have been revised more than once), the precise current figures should be read from the live guideline document on the DMI portal rather than assumed. The subsidy is not paid as cash to the applicant; it is adjusted against the bank loan after completion and inspection, effectively reducing what the applicant repays.

What documents are required for AMI?

How to apply for the AMI scheme

1. Prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the eligible storage or marketing infrastructure, with a cost estimate and land documents.
2. Approach a financing bank for a term loan for the project, the subsidy is credit-linked, so a sanctioned loan is essential.
3. Ensure the project is registered on the DMI / AMI online system as required under the scheme, so the subsidy claim can be tracked.
4. The bank forwards the subsidy claim to NABARD (or NCDC for cooperatives), which sanctions and keeps back the subsidy amount.
5. Complete construction of the godown or infrastructure as per the approved DPR within the permitted time.
6. After a joint inspection confirms the project, NABARD/NCDC releases the back-ended subsidy, which is adjusted against the loan account.

Help and where to verify

• Official portal: dmi.gov.in, under the AMI / ISAM scheme section, where the revised operational guidelines are published.
• The scheme does not run a dedicated citizen helpline; queries go through the DMI portal, the financing bank, and NABARD/NCDC.

Because AMI's subsidy rates, capacity bands and per-project ceilings are set in the DMI operational guidelines and have been revised over time, treat the current guideline document on the DMI portal as the authoritative source before finalising a project, especially the eligible capacity range and the special-category list.